Stories of Us
by SasuSaku Forever and Ever
Summary: o31: He was a poor boy when he met Sakura, and although they still don't live the comfortable life, he's rich because of her.
1. Holding Hands

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo1: Sakura tells Sasuke how she really feels after the war.

* * *

**.oo1.  
**_Holding Hands_

"It's done," Sakura said, looking out into the empty village where she used to call home. "The war's over."

She and Sasuke stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down on their city, destroyed amidst the war. What used to be tall, proud buildings were now crumbled heaps of stone and mortar.

Sakura looked back behind her to see the rest of her friends helping each other and up hugging each other, convincing themselves that it would be okay. She opened her mouth to call out Naruto, but she realized that he was holding Hinata tight to him, and immediately felt a twinge of jealousy as she glanced quickly back at Sasuke.

Neither of the two talked for a long time, before Sasuke finally said, "Things have changed."

"They have." She looked back at him for the briefest second before averting her gaze, although she knew that he saw.

"I know that I've changed," he said. "Perhaps not in the most ideal way."

He expected Sakura to scoff, or to even raise her voice and yell at him about the times he abandoned her and hurt her and—

"Yeah."

_Yeah? Just _yeah_? _Sasuke felt frustrated. He wanted her to understand.

"I've wronged myself, Sakura. I've wronged my family. And my friends. And you." He faced her, his dark eyes heavy. She, however, continued to stare into the abyss that was once her home.

"I wasn't in my right mind during those times," he said.

"I don't think you ever were," she answered, her voice deep and quiet. "You only wanted revenge. Nothing else. You didn't seem to care about us. About the _team_."

"You're wrong," he said. "You guys were my family." He moved closer to her, but she backed away slowly.

"You're afraid of me," Sasuke said quietly. "I hurt you before, and you think I'll do it again." His gaze focused on her neck and saw the small scars where his fingernails clamped into her skin.

"I can't let you hurt me again, even if you're back on our side," she whispered, her eyes becoming watery with tears.

Without warning, Sasuke moved close enough to Sakura so that he could gently caress her neck, rubbing it softly. She flinched under his touch, but inside, she wanted more of him—more of that warmth that he was giving to her right now.

"Stop," she mumbled. "I can't—" She didn't know what to say. She shouldn't have let him touch her, but at the same time, she never wanted it to end.

His fingers stopped moving and he brought them back to his side.

"We can't change what's happened," he said, looking back out towards the city. Sakura didn't know whether or not he meant the remains of Konoha or their pasts.

"It'll be okay, though," she said, trying to convince them that everything would be fine soon.

"Hn." Both of them knew that nothing would _really _be okay anymore.

In silence, they stared out into the ruins of the city before Sasuke reached over and took Sakura's hand in his own. She looked to him in surprise, feeling his hard, calloused hand in her soft one, but he wouldn't meet her gaze and continued to look straight forward.

Tears began to pour down Sakura's eyes as she wiped them away with her other wrist. He gave her hand a small squeeze and looked at her for the briefest second.

"Please stay now," she begged, still wiping away her tears. "I missed you."

He gripped her hand tighter.

"I'm not going to leave you again."

* * *

**Based on Naruto chp. 631 and above. I'm so happy to be part of SSM again! I'll be updating every day, but I'll be away for a week in July so I'll keep up when I'm back.**

**Thanks for all your reviews and support.**


	2. Lessons Learned

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo2: Sakura learns what it's like to fall in love—and out of it.

* * *

**.oo2.**  
_Lessons Learned_

We were taught several things in school. Lessons on how to divide, on how to figure out what the author's saying his book, and on the significance of a certain war.

They never taught us how to love, so we all ended up having to learn that ourselves.

I was considered a goody-two-shoes throughout school: people even called me the "teacher's pet." I didn't mind. As long as I did my best and gave 100%, I didn't mind at all. I was the girl who would always wear her hair in two braided pigtails every day, making sure her uniform would always be perfect—no wrinkles—and had the knee-high socks with Mary Janes.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was the complete opposite of me that drew me to him. Sasuke.

Every guy wanted to behim. Every girl wanted to be _with_ him. I wasn't an exception. From the classroom windows while taking notes, I would peer out and see him playing hooky with some of his friends, their uniforms amuck and ties slung over their shoulders while they lit each other's cigarettes.

But the way that they laughed together—the way that he would throw his neck back and give a hearty chuckle—made me love him even more. I couldn't help but smile like a little girl every time I saw his smirk, and quickly made sure to look over my notes to see if I had been copying down the board, not drawing our names together.

From rumors, people told me that Sasuke was a bad guy. You didn't want to get involved with him. He had several tattoos on his body, was in the yakuza, and never slept with the same girl twice. He was everything that I should have avoided.

But that one day where I was busy thinking about something, I ran into him and was knocked over. Looking up from the ground, I saw Sasuke's dark glare and expected him to insult me, but instead, he leaned down and helped me up, his lips curling up into a slight smirk that was barely noticeable.

"Watch yourself next time," he said, as his friends laughed from behind. After I dusted myself off, he and his group left, his friends teasing him about me, I presume, and I immediately felt pink come to my cheeks.

I felt Sasuke's calloused hand in my own soft one and wondered if it was because of fighting or hard work that made his hands so rough. Hoping nobody saw, I pressed my hand against my nose and inhaled.

It smelled like him.

.

.

.

I tried to muster up the courage to talk to him again, but I couldn't find the right words or the right time. He was either crowded by a group of guys or girls, or alone with his friends outside partaking in activities I didn't want to get involved in.

Then one day, after school in the library, I was staying after to finish some work so that I didn't have to bring things home. As I was browsing the shelves, I nearly jumped at seeing someone staring straight at me from a crack in the bookshelf.

"You scared me," I said, putting my hand to my heart. He smirked and walked over to my side of the shelf.

"Sorry." He still had that beautiful smirk on. "What are you doing so late?"

I don't know why I answered, but I did. "I'm just finishing some work."

"Aa, Haruno Sakura. The over-achiever."

_He knew my name. _I gulped. Did he have a bad impression of me as the over-achiever?

I felt Sasuke's hand touch my neck. "You need to relax a little bit and let loose. Have some fun." Without warning, he quickly pulled the hair ties off my braids and ruffled up my hair a little bit.

"That looks better." He pocketed my hair ties. "You look good."

Feeling heat come to my cheeks again, I turned away from him, but he pressed me to the bookshelf and loomed over me. I should have felt scared, but rather, I felt comfortable with him. As if we belonged together.

"You're trembling," he said. I looked down at my knees, which were shaking. Maybe I _was _a little nervous…

Sasuke leaned closer to me. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said. "Trust me."

My mind wasn't clear. "I trust you."

His lips touched mine for the briefest of seconds before he pulled away. He watched my eyes for uncertainty before he kissed me again. It was longer this time, and more sweet—like he actually really cared for me.

I put my hands on his shoulders and brought him closer to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I could feel something warm pressing against my stomach. Embarrassed, I pried myself away, and he realized what he had done.

"I'm sorry," he said, raking his hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have—"

"No, I—" I began.

"It's just that…you're beautiful," he sighed. "And you're just a breath of fresh air in my life."

I don't know if I thought he was just kissing up to me so that he could get in my pants, but it almost worked. That is, it would have worked if we did have sex.

"I really like you," I blurted out. He looked at me, his eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"I mean, not just because of your looks. But because of who you are."

He chuckled. That deep throaty laugh that made me love him even more.

"Are you serious? We're the complete opposite. I do everything that you think is evil and wrong."

I took his hand in my own, my thumbs stroking his hard palm. "I like you for it, anyway."

His free hand rested on my cheek, and he kissed me again. Before I could put my arms around his neck, he hiked my shirt up and put his hands over my breasts, parting my legs with his knee. I knew what he wanted. It was obvious from the hot arousal against my skin.

"Kami, Sakura, you make me crazy," he groaned.

Sasuke broke the kiss for a second to carry me to a study table, where he knocked over all the books and laid me on top. He straddled me, kissing me feverishly again, his mouth hot on my skin.

I felt his fingers unbuttoning my blouse, and I closed my eyes shut. Did I want this? Even if it was with Sasuke?

Before I could say anything, though, he cursed out loud. "Fuck!" and he got off me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He looked like he was in pain. "I can't. I'm sorry."

I'd never heard of Sasuke rejecting a girl in sex, and I immediately saw a different side of him I'd never seen before.

"Why not?" I asked. "It's only one time. You don't sleep with the same girl twice."

For some reason, his face changed. He became angry. "I don't want you to think of me that way. It may be true, but that's why I can't take you—" He sighed. "You're beautiful. Incredibly beautiful. But I won't be able to forgive myself if I have you."

"Are you not sexually attracted to me?" I asked, feeling tears coming to my eyes. "Because I want this, too."

He looked me straight in the eye. "I want to do everything with you. But I'm afraid that if I do, I'll take you off the deep end. I couldn't afford to do that. We don't match. You deserve someone better."

Sasuke saw the tears fall down my eyes and he knew that I was just as hurt as he was.

He kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry, Sakura." His fingers helped put the buttons back on my blouse and he stroked my cheek before he turned to leave.

I'm not sure if he heard me cry. Then again, I don't even know if I could hear myself cry.

.

.

.

We all learn something in school. In tenth grade, I learned how to use graph a function by hand. In eleventh grade, I could recite ancient Japanese poems backwards and forwards. And in my senior year, I could write prose that was capable of national awards.

But I never learned how to love. So when Sasuke left me that day in the library, I could feel my heart break into a million pieces.

I knew he cared for me somewhat. I'm not sure if it was a true care or a sexual care, but he cared, nonetheless. Every time I saw him with a group of girls, he wouldn't pay attention to them like he used to. Sometimes he would meet my gaze, but I would turn away quickly before he could do anything.

And when I was in class looking out the window to see him and his friends, there wasn't that throaty laugh anymore that I loved. There was only a nod of agreement and a sneer.

I loved him. I think I still do. But I've learned my lesson, and he taught me something more valuable than any teacher at school taught me.

Sometimes when I'm in the library, I stand near the bookshelf where we kissed. And I swear, I can feel his hard, calloused hand gripping my own.

And I don't feel so alone anymore.

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**A longer prompt! REVIEW GUYS I LOVE YOU **

**YOU KNOW I SEE THAT YOU FAVE BUT DON'T REVIEW AND IT MAKES ME SAD TT^TT**


	3. Watching

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo3: It was she who watched him at first. Now, he watches her.

* * *

**.oo3.  
**_Watching_

Sasuke knew that Sakura was always looking at him as a kid. She and her friends would always lean over the fence to get a better look at him taking a break and eating whatever snack his parents packed for him that day.

It was annoying as hell, in his opinion, because girls were a waste of time and all had cooties, and he didn't want to get involved in that.

This "ritual" of theirs continued for several months, until one day he heard their incessant giggling and turned to them sharply, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Leave me alone," he said, raising his voice. "You're annoying."

He saw how they would immediately stop laughing and turn bright red, but Sasuke decided that embarrassment wasn't enough.

"And you," he said, focusing his attention on Sakura. "Don't look at me. I don't want you to watch me anymore. It's weird. Find something better to do."

Honestly, Sasuke half-expected her to wail and run away in tears, but for some odd reason, she shrugged and just said "okay" in a dejected tone before calling her friends to leave with her. They were equally surprised at Sakura as Sasuke was.

"Hn." He turned to stare out at the scenery in front of him while snacking on his tomato, his ears perking up whenever he thought he heard giggles.

But that day, there was no laughing. Or the next day. Or any day after that.

.

.

.

When they were young adults at the same university, Sasuke would always see Sakura around once in a while. The school was a small school—even smaller than the local high school they both went to.

She'd be laughing with a different group of friends than the ones she hung out with when she was little. And Sasuke himself even got some guys that he called "friends." He, Naruto (the loudmouth), Sai (the artist), and Neji (the serious one) would sit in Sasuke's dorm room, sharing drinks while talking drunk nonsense.

"Who would you rather do?" Naruto drawled. "Neji's cousin Hinata, or her equally hot friend…the one with the pink hair."

"Dude," Neji said, his voice unsteady. "That—That's my cousin."

"No way, man. Not Hinata. He meant _Sakura_." Sai added, not quite fully intoxicated yet. "And I'd totally do her."

"Nn," Neji muttered, agreeing by lifting up his beer.

"Is both an option?" Naruto asked, before quickly saying Sakura's name once he saw Neji's stern glare.

"What about you, teme?" Naruto asked before Neji could do anything else. "Which one?"

Sasuke could still think, although he was a little woozy. "Hn."

"Come on, chicken! Bawk bawk bawk!"

Sai added, "Answer it, Sasuke. We all did."

"Even I said it."

"That's because the only other option was _your cousin_," Sasuke snarled.

Neji shrugged. "She's still attractive."

"You're sick." Sasuke finished the rest of his beer and threw the bottle into the recycling bin. "You're all fucking sick."

He made his way towards his bed and flopped down on it while he heard his friends continue to play the "Who Would You Rather" game. Groaning at the thought of a hangover the day after, he closed his eyes and tried to nurse himself by sleep.

.

.

.

_Fucking pink hair blocking my view_, Sasuke thought as he saw Sakura continuously tuck locks of her hair behind her ear during the lecture. He wanted so badly to move so that he could concentrate on the board, but the way her slim fingers touched pink strands made him want to reach out and grab a fistful of her soft hair, just to see what it really felt like.

"Are you watching, Uchiha-san?" the professor said, calling out Sasuke's name. He immediately sat up, and said without hesitation, "I am, sensei."

The professor gave him a glare before continuing on with the lecture, and Sakura turned around to smile. "Quick thinking," she said.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Hn."

.

.

.

He'd never tell, but sometimes he'd watch over her on the weekends if they were at the same bar with their friends. Of course, because the bar was so busy, she probably didn't even know that he was there, but he always made sure that nothing bad would happen.

If strange men came up to her asking to grind, or if they wanted to buy her a drink, he'd slyly walk past them and bump them roughly or knock over their drink.

"Hey, Sai, watch this. I'm going to balance this flaming shot on my nose. Ready? Rea—oh, shit," Naruto muttered, the shot glass falling onto his clothes. "Quick, douse it with something! Hey, don't spit on me—you have water right there—"

"Hey!" Sakura said, coming up to Sasuke. He noticed that her friends weren't with her, and he saw them having fun with some other guys from university.

"Hey," he said in response, watching Naruto and Sai from the corner of his eye.

"I thought you didn't like the nightlife," Sakura smirked. "You seem more like a party-at-home with the friends type of guy."

"Hn."

"…Do you want to dance with me?" she said. "I mean, I know you probably don't like dancing much anyway, but you know, I—"

"Sure." He got up and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor. It didn't matter that he didn't know how to dance. Sasuke didn't think she'd mind all that much.

"So," she said, her body moving in time to the music. "How's uni been for you so far?"

"Boring."

"Well, maybe—" she did a twirl around him. "You shouldn't have signed up for the easy classes."

"They fit in my schedule."

Sakura was about to say something else, but instead, she took his hands in her own and made him dance with her. "Let's not talk about school while we're here. Come on. You look so dead." She laughed, and Sasuke immediately felt his ears perk up from hearing a familiar sound he hadn't heard in so long.

"Sakura, wait."

"Hm?" she said, still moving his body with hers, acting as the puppeteer.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"For what?" she asked.

"The way I treated you when we were younger. You didn't deserve that."

Her face froze, and then she laughed. "Do you really think I'm still hung up over that? We're adults now, Sasuke. I'm not a little girl anymore." She did another twirl around him. "But thanks, anyway."

They danced for a little while longer before Sakura felt her phone ring in her shorts.

"Hello? Karin? Yeah, where are you? I'm here—o-okay, I'll meet you there in a second. Bye."

Facing Sasuke, she sighed. "I've got to go. But, you know, we still see each other around, and our dorms aren't too far apart from each other."

"Yeah."

"So I'll see you later?"

"Yeah."

As she turned to leave, Sasuke called out her name.

"Sakura."

He saw her freeze.

"You're not annoying to me at all."

Although he couldn't see her face, he was sure that she was smiling. He watched her as she left. Sasuke loved the way her body moved and danced, and the way her soft pink hair swung with every step. He just loved watching her be her, and maybe that's why she liked to watch him as a kid.

Naruto, his body covered in saliva, slung an arm around Sasuke.

"I hate seeing her go," he muttered.

"Hn."

"…But I _love _watching her leave," Naruto grinned.

Sasuke turned to wipe that cheeky little smile off his saliva-ridden face.

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**Inspired by that one pic where she's Sasuke and Sakura are kids and she blushes once he turns around and blah.**

**REVIEW GUYS I LOVE YOU**


	4. Misspent Youth

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo4: Sakura tells Sasuke that she's done chasing after him. But she's never heard Sasuke's side of the story.

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**.oo4.  
**_Misspent Youth_

"I have spent _so _much of my life chasing after you," Sakura growled, pointing a harsh finger at Sasuke. He could see the anger pouring out of her into her words, and she made no effort to conceal them. "I was always there watching you as a kid, growing up with you on the team, and being alone when you left, loving you all the way. And for what? What did I get out of it?" she asked.

Sasuke's face remained emotionless. His back was against the wall in Tsunade's office, and the two were completely alone.

"You hurt me. You were the cause of all my pain. If I hadn't loved you—if I perhaps fell in love with Naruto, or maybe even someone else, I wouldn't have wasted years of my life hoping that you'd come back. I'd be happy with them."

Sasuke still didn't say anything, but he felt the harsh jabs of Sakura's finger pointing him in his chest, where his heart was.

"Then again, if I didn't love you, you would have lost your sanity completely. I wouldn't have been able to get you out of your cursed form in the Forest of Death, nor would I have tried to kill you to prevent any harm towards anyone else I loved. And you know what you did?"

"I choked you," he answered, his voice empty.

"You tried to kill me."

"You did, too."

He felt the harsh slap of her hand against his cheek, and although he admired how strong she'd gotten, he tried not to let the pain of the sting show on his face.

"We're adults now, Sasuke." She purposely dropped the –kun from his name, just like he purposely dropped out of her life. "I have done things that I regretted. I wasted my youth trying to get you to love me. But you don't love me. I was only a nuisance to you, maybe even a teammate, but that's pushing it. I wanted to care for you."

"And I appreciate that," he answered.

Obviously not expecting that kind of response, Sakura froze. She couldn't think, and while she looked at Sasuke's eyes to see if he really meant what he said, she felt the sting of tears pool up in her own eyes.

"Stop it," she said. "Don't say things you don't mean." She heard her voice crack and tried hard not to let it show. "I'm supposed to be angry at you, damnit!"

"What started out as a crush turned into love. It was a genuine love; not the love that I received from girls like Ino or even Karin."

"But it doesn't mean anything if I couldn't get you to love me back." Sakura wiped her tears away with her arm. "I don't care now. What's done is done. I'll be smarter about love, now. I'll find someone who will treat me right—who won't leave me to pursue his own goals, and who won't throw me away like a piece of trash."

"You say that, but I know that you'll never be able to get over me." Sasuke braced himself for another slap, but this time, Sakura forced a smile.

"You're probably right," she said. "I'm not the person to give up so easily. After all, I never gave up on loving you, even if it did mean that my years of chasing you were in vain."

"But you've never taken into account on how I feel," he said. "So far, all you've been talking about is how you've wasted your life on me, and how I couldn't love you back and I did all these horrible things to you. And I admit, that's true to some extent."

"What are you—"

"There are so many times where I could have let you die on my watch. I didn't. And when I left Konoha, I could have placed you on the ground or thrown you into the bushes. But I put you on a bench and made sure that you'd be found the day after. And once," he said, his eyes meeting Sakura's intently. "When you were unconscious, do you know what I told Naruto?"

"What did you say?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"I told him that he had to save you. Because I couldn't bear to have someone I care about die in front of me again."

Sakura gulped. "He never told me that."

"Because he probably just wanted you for himself."

"Don't speak anymore," Sakura said. "I don't want to hear anything else."

"I value you, Sakura."

"No—" she began.

"You never wasted a single second loving me. You didn't waste _anything_."

"What are you saying?" she panicked.

"You're not just a teammate to me."

There were so many variations of what that meant that rambled on in Sakura's mind, and she didn't know which one he meant or chose. Taking a deep breath, she hugged Sasuke for the briefest second, and whispered a quiet _Thank you _under her breath. He didn't have time to hug her back, because she had already pulled apart.

"Time well spent," she said. "I'll use the rest of my life wisely." She walked out the door, closing it behind her, and Sasuke heard the click of the door meeting the wall.

He walked over to the Hokage's desk and stared out the window. Konoha was beautiful, even if it had changed radically from what he was used to.

Just like Sakura.

* * *

**I went to the beach today, so sorry for the late update =(**

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	5. Flood

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo5: Sakura's terrified of storms, so Sasuke has no choice but to cuddle her until she calms down.

* * *

**.oo5.  
**_Flood_

The sound of thunder made Sakura jump, a loud, shrilly sound leaving her mouth. Sasuke winced at hearing her sharp cries pierce his ears, but he rolled his eyes and ignored it. The storm would stop soon, and so would her screams.

"Hey," Naruto shouted to Sasuke while burying his head in the refrigerator. "Teme. How come you don't have any ramen in here? It's all vegetables and healthy stuff. Come on, man!"

"Stop raiding my food," Sasuke growled as Sakura began to cry out loud again at the next boom of sound. Frustrated, he turned to her.

"And stop making that noise. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be."

His harsh words should have hurt Sakura, but she was too affected by the storm outside to even notice. The rain was pouring down heavily onto the windows and the streets outside, and the pitter-patter of the raindrops falling made Sakura curl up into a ball.

"She's scared of big storms," Naruto said, finally settling for an apple. "Believe me, when it was storming during 'hang-out time' at my house, all she wanted to do was make a pillow fort and hide there until the rain stopped."

"Don't lie," Sakura said, her speech muffled. "You wanted to make that fort just as much as I did."

With a sheepish grin, Naruto took a bite out of the apple and nodded. "Yeah."

"Let's just watch some TV," Sasuke muttered, looking for the remote. He searched for it under the couch cushions where Naruto had it last and began to flip through channels quickly.

"Wait!" Sakura said, snatching the remote from him.

"What the—"

She pressed the buttons feverishly, searching for the right channel. Once she saw the familiar face of the meteorologist, she sighed in relief and handed the remote back to Sasuke.

"In other news," the weatherman began, "there seems to be a flash flood hitting Konoha. Residents are strongly advised to stay in, since water levels may rise up to two feet."

Naruto gaped. "A flood? Seriously? I didn't even pack my overnight stuff and my toothbrush! Say, teme, you wouldn't by any chance have a spare toothbrush and teddy I could use, do you?"

"Fuck off."

"A flood," Sakura said, her voice hollow. "A…flood."

"Sakura-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, forgetting his own dilemma to focus on his friend's. "Something wrong?"

Before either of them knew it, Sakura began to burst into tears and hold herself tight, shaking her head wildly and wailing incoherent words.

"Sakura-chan! Calm down!" Naruto said, putting his arms around her. He glared at Sasuke. "Do something!"

In all honesty, Sasuke didn't know _what _to do. He'd never seen Sakura in hysterics before, and he wasn't sure how to address the situation. In efforts to try and help her, he put what seemed like a comforting hand on her shoulder, but felt her stiffen under his touch.

"How long will we be stuck here?" she said quietly, her voice nearly inaudible.

As if on cue, the TV said, "It's best not to go anywhere overnight until the next morning. We'll let you know the details. This is Konoha Weather Report; thank you for watching."

Naruto turned the TV off and put his arm around Sakura. "It'll be okay, Sakura-chan. We're here. We'll protect you from the big, evil, nasty storm."

She sniffed. "You're too sweet, guys."

"You mean me. I'm the only one…you know, helping you," Naruto said.

"Don't push it," she growled.

This silenced Naruto, and he said nothing else for a while. Sasuke was finally glad that Sakura stopped crying and screaming, but he also didn't want to listen to the awkward silence that echoed throughout the room.

He decided that it was time to break the ice.

"Fat penguins," he said out of the blue.

Both Sakura and Naruto turned to him, obviously confused.

"What?"

"It's…an icebreaker. I learned it from my brother." He felt his cheeks heat up. "Never mind. It was stupid."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura grin.

"I thought it was funny," she whispered.

"Well, if Sakura-chan thought it was funny, then it must be," Naruto agreed, although he still didn't quite fully understand the joke.

"It's ten o'clock," Sakura noted. "Our parents must be worried sick."

"Mine are out on vacation. That's why they let us have the place. Of course, we wouldn't do this anyway if Naruto hadn't made this 'hang-out' thing a ritual," Sasuke snarled.

"And mine are probably having tea time with Sakura-chan's parents. Just kidding. They're probably doing adult things, like paying taxes and reading old novels and knitting…"

Sakura pushed Naruto. "What's wrong with you?"

"What? Isn't that what every adult does when they're alone?" he asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "I can't believe you're seventeen."

A large clap of thunder interrupted them, and Sakura jumped, landing on Sasuke's lap. Her arms were tight around him and he didn't know what to do with his own hands, so he put his hands on her back and held her close to him.

"Calm down, Sakura," he said, his voice trying to be soothing. "Relax."

Naruto, obviously jealous by the attention Sasuke was receiving, said, "Why don't we all just go to sleep, and by the time we wake up, everything will be alright."

Sakura sniffed. "Okay."

Unable to move, Sasuke nodded his head towards the power switch, and Naruto sighed, getting up to turn all the lights off.

"Blankets are over there," Sasuke jerked while he watched Naruto retrieve them.

"Big, fluffy one for you, Sakura-chan," he said. "Now keep in mind, this is a _one person blanket_, so you're going to have to, uh, get off of teme's lap."

Sakura sniffed, removing herself from Sasuke and wrapping the blanket around her. Naruto handed Sasuke one of the blankets and gave himself another.

"Good night, guys," Naruto said, taking a pillow from the couch to comfort his head.

"Night," Sakura murmured, sighing deeply.

"Hn."

It was still dark, and the raindrops pelting the cement made it nearly impossible to sleep. Sasuke heard Naruto's sound snores within twenty minutes, and he saw from the corner of his eye that Sakura hadn't moved, so he assumed she was asleep too.

His head turned to face her, and he noted how gentle she looked when she was asleep. Her chest moved softly up and down with each breath she took, and he liked the way her long pink lashes curled up slightly at the tips.

"Sasuke-kun?" she said through her breath, not opening her eyes. He assumed that she was sleep-talking, and made nothing of it.

"I'm awake," she said. "Just closing my eyes."

Sasuke pulled back. "Aa."

Thunder boomed again, and Sakura winced, clutching onto Sasuke's arm. Sasuke noted how Naruto was sound asleep and didn't budge. Then again, it was probably a good thing.

"Sakura," he said. "Stop digging your nails into my skin."

She immediately let go. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Not just for this. For everything. I know that you don't like us staying here at your house during the 'ritual' thing, but I really do apologize for causing you some trouble today during this nasty storm."

Sasuke saw how genuine she was and sighed. "It's fine," he said. "I don't mind too much."

"I don't want you to mind at all."

Another _boom_.

This time, she ended up wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

"I don't want to have to ask this," she muttered in his neck. "But can you please hold me? At least until the storm's over?"

Sasuke hesitated. He looked over at Naruto, who was dead-asleep, and back at Sakura's fearful eyes.

"Fine. Put your blanket over you and come here."

She grabbed her blanket and slung it over her shoulders, like a cape. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her back and she settled down in his lap.

"Sorry," she murmured, trying to make sure both of them were comfortable.

"It's fine," he repeated. His fingers twitched over the warmth of her shirt, and he could feel heat spread throughout his body. Silently, he thanked the storm for making it dark out so that Sakura couldn't see his redness.

"You're a good person, Sasuke-kun," she said. "Not many people would do this for me."

"Naruto would."

"Yeah, but I mean…what I'm trying to say…" she paused. "Never mind."

But he understood. He knew what she meant.

His right hand cupped her cheek, and he lifted up her chin so that he could look at her. There was no longer any fear in her eyes.

"You're not _that _annoying, if it makes you feel any better," he said, the corner of his lip curling up into a smirk.

Without warning, Sakura pressed her lips against Sasuke's. She was warm, he thought to himself, as his hands held the sides of her head, her silky locks flowing through his fingers.

Another crack of thunder echoed in the sky.

"Nn," she moaned softly as she pressed her nails into Sasuke's shoulders. "Sasuke-kun…"

He pulled apart and saw her disappointed face, no longer worried about the storm.

"Go to sleep, Sakura," he said. She heard how the tone of his voice was neither disapproving nor annoyed, but rather caring.

"Good night," she said, the blanket securely around her. "And thanks."

.

.

.

"Teme! Wake up! The storm stopped, and there's a lot of water outside, and—hey. Hey! Sakura-chan! Get off him!" Naruto shouted incoherently, looking at how comfortable Sakura was seated on Sasuke's lap and his hands were on her waist.

"Mm," Sakura yawned. "Good morning, Naruto."

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing on Sasuke—never mind. I don't want to know. But look at the flood! The water's really high!"

"Naruto," Sasuke growled. "You're so loud." He rubbed his eyes and immediately missed Sakura's warmth on his lap.

"Let's see what the weather report has to say about it," Sakura said, turning on the TV.

"In other news, floodwaters are high. Residents are advised to stay in their homes overnight again until we can—"

Naruto shut it off.

"Another day at teme's house! Yes!" he shouted in glee as he picked up Sakura and whirled her around. "It's like _Survivor_. Except no one's dying and we're all best friends. But in case we have to turn on each other, I'm eating teme first."

"Fuck you, dobe."

"Not today. Who wants to go swimming in the flood?" Naruto shouted.

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled at Sasuke. He smirked back, slowly getting up and walking to the kitchen.

"Stop screaming, dobe. Neighbors will think we keep you prisoner here or something."

Sasuke started to make up some coffee. "Sakura, what do you want?"

She smiled. "Anything you like."

* * *

**I think I focused more on storms rather than floods but bleh.**

**REVIEW GUYS FOR SSM I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THANKS FOR REVIEWING FAVING FOLLOWING ON FF AND TUMBLR YOU GUYS ROCK**


	6. Babysitting

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo6: Sasuke never should have agreed to babysit Sakura's cats.

* * *

**.oo6.  
**_Babysitting_

"It'll only be for a week, and I'll be sure to pay you a lot!" Sakura begged her boyfriend as she pouted.

He vowed to himself that he'd never fall for the puppy eyes again. But damnit, it made him horny, and he bent over slightly so that she couldn't see the bulge rising in his pants.

"You owe me good," he muttered as he faced away from Sakura's pleading gaze.

Suddenly, he felt a weight forced upon his back, and realized that Sakura had jumped on him.

"Yay!" she squealed, kissing his cheeks. "You're the best, Sasuke-kun. I love you. Love you, love you, _love _you!" she cried. Sasuke set her down onto hard ground.

"Thanks," he said. "So what do I do? Do I just feed them or something?"

"Yes." Her voice immediately got serious, and she gave him a stapled packet of handwritten instructions on how to take care of her feline friends. "You must feed Mimi—she's the white one—at precisely 7:30 am each morning. If you don't, she gets grumpy all day and will scratch and bite you until the next morning. Then, Lulu—she's the black one—has to be taken out at 8:15 before she gets fed."

"Don't cats use the litter box?" he asked.

"She doesn't like it. So after you feed them, you've got to play with them for at least two hours a day or they'll be really upset and make sure to make your life miserable."

"It already is," he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Sakura growled.

"Nothing."

"Good." Her voice was cheery and she continued. "Feed them again at 6:45. Both at the same time. And let them out at 7:20. When they go to bed at 10:00, you've got to sit by their side and read them a bedtime story. Here." She handed him a scratched-up copy of _The Cat in the Hat_. "Make sure you enunciate your words and read it extra slow. You have the keys to my apartment, right? You should probably just stay there for a week, since it'll be too much trouble to go back and forth every day."

"Sakura, this is ridiculous," Sasuke said. "First of all, I don't even wake up until _nine_ o'clock, and yet you expect me to feed your cat at 7:30? Plus, why the fuck do they need to be read to? They're cats, not babies."

"They're _my _babies," Sakura hmphed. "But when I get back, I'll be sure to pay you a lot."

"I don't want your money," he muttered.

"Fine then. With these." She cupped her breasts and shoved them in his face. "Love you," she said sweetly. "Bye!"

How could he resist? But one week didn't seem too bad. All he needed to do was change his sleeping schedule a little bit and…_read to her cats…_

"Fucking ridiculous," he muttered. But he'd do it. He'd do it for the sex.

The unbelievable, mind-blowing, "I'm cumming!" sex.

He picked up the copy of her keys he had and headed over. "Fuckin' ridiculous," he repeated.

.

.

.

He'd never gotten along with the cats even when he started dating Sakura. _Two years ago_.

"Oh," he muttered as he walked past the white cat—Kiki?—trying not to trip over the furry feline. "Hey," he said to the other.

They mewed incessantly and clawed at his pants, making sure to dig their nails deep into his shins.

"Ow, shit! What the hell?" Sasuke cursed as he struggled to break free from their claws. "Little assholes."

Sasuke decided that he wouldn't go back and get his stuff. He and Sakura basically lived at each other's houses for those _overnight stays _and they both had plenty of their items at each house.

"So, it's one in the afternoon," Sasuke said, addressing the cats, although he wasn't exactly sure why. "And Sakura's taken you out already and fed you. So I guess we have a couple hours until dinner time. Maybe you can just sit and watch me watch TV."

Their blue eyes stared back at Sasuke with confusion and a glare and they eventually strutted away, refusing to even look at him.

Sighing, Sasuke reached for the remote. "I hope she got cable like I told her to."

.

.

.

With nothing to watch but cat movies, TV shows, and documentaries, Sasuke finally settled for the Animal Planet special on the feline species. Sasuke knew Sakura loved her cats, but to what extent he was not sure of. He suspected that if he hadn't come along and swooped her off her feet, she'd definitely become the crazy cat lady that the Internet so often mocked.

"_Shit_," Sasuke cursed, looking at his watch. It was 7:15. He was supposed to feed them thirty minutes ago.

Quickly, he ran to their bowls and saw that they waited there patiently, their light eyes glaring at him, and they hissed. He hurriedly put the food into the bowls and began to walk away before he felt sharp claws dig into his shins.

"Hey! Hey, you—Mimi, or Lulu, whichever one you are—get your paws off me!" He shook his leg furiously, hoping to drive them off, but instead felt the fangs of the other cat in his heel.

"You two are fucking crazy as hell." Sasuke shouted. He managed to pry them off and toss them towards their food. "There's no way you're going to get a bedtime story tonight."

As he walked away, Sasuke swore he could have heard two deep, menacing growls.

.

.

.

"How are the cats, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called on the fourth day of the babysitting.

"They seem alright," Sasuke said, trying to nurse some fresh cat wounds with hydrogen peroxide. "Aa," he muttered, feeling the sting against the cut. "Shit."

"Sasuke-kun? You alright?" Sakura asked, her voice filled with worry.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Your cats are pretty troublesome, though. I don't know how you manage it."

He heard her giggle. "I find ways. Pretty soon, you three will be the best of friends."

Sasuke nearly snorted. "Sure," he said sarcastically. "And I'll be sure to read them stories every night."

"Oh! About that! How's story time? Do they like it when you read? Because the last babysitter read it weird and they—"

"…To be honest, I haven't read them. Just fed them and took them out and stuff. They're treating me like hell. It's awful."

Sakura whined. "Sasuke-kun! You _promised _you'd take good care of them!"

"I'm feeding them!" he said. "That's enough good care, if you ask me."

She sighed. "I'll be back in three days. Try to stay alive."

"Bye, Sakura."

"I love you," she said.

"Love you, too." He hung up. An image of her breasts popped up in his head, and he smirked to himself before he felt furry paws on his neck.

"Ow! Even there?" he growled, facing the white cat with a hard stare. The cat seemed to enjoy his pain and when she saw that he was angered, she walked away, her head high and proud.

Sasuke put the bottle of hydrogen peroxide down. "It's only three more days," he said. While staring at the cats, who snuggled peacefully together on the sofa, Sasuke said to them, "It's 6:10. I'll go get dinner ready."

He wasn't exactly sure why he said that.

.

.

.

"Uh. '_The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, wet day_.'"

Sasuke was still unsure why he was sitting next to the cats and reading them a story when he could have been jacking off to pictures of Sakura on his phone.

Both the cats stared at him, telling him with their eyes that he was reading it all wrong and that Sakura read it best.

"Look," he said, putting the book down. "I'm not your owner. I can't do things like Sakura can. I can't read to you like she can. But I'm trying, aren't I? Shit, forget it. You probably can't understand anything I'm saying. I might as well read smut to you and you wouldn't know the difference." Sasuke sighed. "Good night, cats."

As he left the laundry room where the cat beds were, he sighed exasperatedly. But when he closed the door, he swore he could have heard the small _mew mews_ from the cats.

.

.

.

"You're back," Sasuke said, pulling Sakura into a one-armed hug.

"Wow," she said, taking his face in her hands. "You look like you got beat up by them."

"Scratches all over my body."

Sakura's fingers trailed down his chest and stopped where his abs were. She smiled up at him, and he smirked down at her. Pulling her into a passionate kiss, he wrapped one arm around her waist, brought her suitcase and things in with the other hand, and shut the door behind him.

"Upstairs?" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

His eyes focused on her chest. "Hn."

He managed to carry her upstairs without bumping her into anything and laid her down onto the bed. Quickly, he began to pull her sundress straps down and kiss her cleavage.

"You promised," he said when she began to fuss about his horniness. "Plus," he said, nibbling on her breast. "I know you like it."

Sakura tried to disagree, but the moan that came from her mouth told him everything he needed to know. He tried to bring the dress down to her hips so that he could take off her panties and plunge into her, but before he could, he stopped.

"Uh, Sakura," Sasuke said, removing his mouth from her breast.

"Nn?" she mumbled, propping herself up on her forearm.

"Your cats," he said, looking at the black and white duo perched on the side of the bed. "They're _watching _us."

"Aww," Sakura said sweetly in her baby voice, pulling up her dress and cradling both her cats to her. "Did you miss mommy? I missed you two pussies!"

Knowing that Sasuke was watching, they began to snuggle their heads against her breasts, their paws stroking her boobs.

"Fuckers," he muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing." He glared at the cats.

…And he swore that they smirked at him.

* * *

**THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS FAVES AND FOLLOWS. PLEASE KEEP IT UP. I LOVE YOU ALL.**


	7. The Deep End

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo7: Drugs have meddled too much with Sasuke's life, driving him off the deep end. Sakura's the one who has to help him get out of it.

* * *

**.oo7.  
**_The Deep End_

"Tell me why you're here," Sakura said, crossing her legs and tapping on her clipboard with her pen. She was simply an intern at the hospital, but she had already proven herself to be up to par with some of the other respected doctors there.

Her patient—about the same age as her, if not a bit older—slouched in his chair, refusing to look her in the eye. Sakura noticed that he had several tattoos and scars, and had the typical appearance of someone that people didn't want to get involved with.

"Got caught doing drugs. _Again_," he seethed, making sure that Sakura heard the frustration in his voice. "Don't understand why I gotta be in fuckin' rehab. I didn't hurt anyone."

"They're scared you will someday," Sakura said. She wrote some things down on her clipboard. "So we just want to make sure that it doesn't happen."

"It won't. Can I go now?" he asked, beginning to stand up.

"Whoa, now, soldier. Sit down. You're not going anywhere yet."

She heard Sasuke mutter a curse to himself before he slouched back down in his chair. He pulled a carton of cigarettes out of his pocket and a lighter from the other and began to light it up.

"Hey," he growled as Sakura snatched the cigarettes away from him.

"Not allowed." She pocketed them, and the lighter, and watched as his expression turned sour and full of hate.

"Fuck you."

"I'm just doing this for your own good," she said, completely unaffected by his words.

"Yeah, well, I don't need you, doc." He said. He looked up at the white ceiling. "So do I just make up shit about how awful my childhood was, you prescribe me some pills, and we call it a day?"

"No pills. This is just a talk-therapy session. Now quit it and look at me. Good. Now, tell me about yourself."

Sasuke snorted. "Myself? You want to know about me? The fucked up kid who's stuck in rehab with some intern with pink hair trying to be a doctor? Fine. Here's what. My dad hit me as a kid. My brother made me feel like shit. And my mom walked out of my life. I never fuck the same girl twice. I got this scar," he took off his leather jacket and lifted up his shirt, exposing a long scar reaching down from his neck to his abdomen. "In a fight with the yakuza over drug money. And I nearly killed my best friend in a motorcycle accident." He put his shirt back down. "Happy, doc?"

"…It's a start," Sakura said.

"Why are you not terrified of me yet? The other doctors have told me that there's no chance for me. I've gone too far off the deep end."

Sakura gave him a sad smile. "Maybe you have. But there's a way to leave it."

"How do you know?" he said. "If you're so sure, why don't you fix my problems for me?"

She scribbled something down on her clipboard again. "That's what I'm here for."

.

.

.

Sakura thought the first session went pretty well, considering how much information he revealed about himself. The following sessions, Sasuke refused to say anything, and Sakura spent an hour waiting for him to talk. He never did.

Then, on the eighth session, he walked into the room and sat right down in front of her, saying, "I'm breaking out into a cold sweat. I've never been this long without drugs."

"It's been three weeks since our first session," Sakura said. She noted how Sasuke seemed clammy, pale, and nervous. Jittery, even. "And you seemed to be doing better."

"I got some weed from one of the other patients and got caught. I haven't had anything in a week. I'm _losing it,_ Sakura."

He'd never addressed her by her name before. To him, she was just "doc."

"Tell me about what drove you to this kind of life," she said softly, putting her clipboard away. Right now, it was just her and Sasuke having a talk without any kind of interruptions.

His eyes followed the clipboard and then back at her. "You're not taking notes or anything?"

"We're just talking."

"Hn."

Leaning back into his chair, Sasuke began to tell his story.

"I was probably about fourteen. I don't remember. It was about ten years ago. Anyway. My dad beat me up pretty bad one day, and I decided that I'd had enough. So I ran away. I found some guys near the bad part of the town and they offered me some drugs. I couldn't refuse. It was too tempting. So I took some, and…"

"And?"

"It was incredible. Ecstasy. I'd never felt that good in my life. It was as if all my troubles just floated away. For once, I was happy. And I had to have more. I was desperate for the drugs. I did everything. I even sold my virginity to some horny skank for some acid. And then the trouble started. I owed a lot of money to people. I stole things from people that don't take that kind of stuff lightly. And it was like living with my dad all over again, except it was just me on the streets by myself. That was when I probably went off the deep end."

Sakura was silent.

"Well?" Sasuke asked. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"I'm not sure what to say," Sakura said. "I can't say that I understood how you're feeling, because I don't. I can only try and help you with your emotions."

"Fuck that. I don't need to control my emotions. I shouldn't even be here. I need to get out." He got up from the chair and tossed it over onto its side. "See you, doc."

.

.

.

The fourteenth session. "You came back," Sakura said.

"Not on my own account," Sasuke muttered. "Got caught again."

"With what?"

"Cigs."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sasuke, you know better than that."

"Come on, doc. Even _you _have to let loose a little bit." He walked over to her and his hands found the tightly wrapped bun in her hair. With fast fingers, he removed the hair tie and watched her long pink hair fall around her shoulders.

"Wow," Sasuke breathed softly.

"Stop," Sakura said, reaching for her hair tie. She began to tie her hair back properly. "Please don't touch me. We're in a session right now. This is about you, not me."

"I don't want it to be about me. Maybe I want to know about you."

"Well, you're not the intern here."

She reached for the clipboard on the desk when she felt Sasuke's hand on top of hers.

"_Sakura_."

His voice was deep and unlike anything she'd ever heard before. A small shiver ran down her back and she hoped that he hadn't felt it. But he had.

Sasuke's fingers trailed down her collarbone and stopped at the top button of her blouse. She froze for a second, but once he felt her loosen up, his finger dipped under her shirt and undid the buttons.

"Aa," she moaned softly. "We can't—"

Halfway unbuttoned, Sasuke reached his hand in her shirt to cup her breast. It was covered by her demi-bra, and he fingered the material while his palm felt her nipple began to harden.

"Sakura," he whispered hoarsely, his lips against her ear.

"Stop." She managed to regain herself and removed his hand, buttoning up her shirt. "This isn't what our sessions are supposed to be. I'm supposed to help you with your drug addiction. You're not supposed to seduce me so that you can get out of it quicker."

"Is that what you think?" he asked, his voice rising with anger. "You think I'm trying to bed you so that I can leave this hellhole earlier?"

"Yes."

"Fuck!" he slammed his fist against the wall. "I mean, yes, I want to leave, but I'm not trying to get in your pants so that I get a free ticket out. I may be a druggie who's made some bad decisions, but I'm not unethical."

Sakura paused. When she opened her mouth to speak, her voice cracked. "I think you should leave for today."

"I think I should, too."

On his way out, he slammed the door. Sakura stared at it, a little part of her hoping Sasuke would come back, and the other part wishing he'd continue touching her.

.

.

.

"The hospital said that on the twentieth session I could leave. It's the twentieth session. I've made some progress. I've been clean since the last time I saw you," Sasuke said.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that."

"Glad to hear that I'm leaving or glad to hear that I'm clean?"

"That you're clean."

"Hn."

Sakura moved forward, closer to him. She put her hand on his knee. "You know, you're not a bad person, Sasuke. You've made some bad choices, but from our time together, I can see that you've really grown into something different. Something new and fresh. I told you that there's a way to get out of the deep end. And I think you're almost there."

Sasuke wanted to reply to her words and tell her how thankful he was that she helped him through everything. But her hand stayed on his knee for a second too long and without warning, he took her hand in his own and used the other one to stroke her neck as he drew her into a long kiss.

"What are you—" she began before she felt his sweet lips move against hers. He tasted good, like sour melon and mint.

"I can't help it," he said through the kiss. "I've never felt this way with someone before. You made me feel something."

"Please," Sakura said, gently pushing him away. "I'm glad that I was the one to help you out of this. But," she began.

Sasuke stared at her swollen lips and her mussed hair and wanted so much more of her.

"I don't think we can keep doing this. After all, you'll leave, and I'll still be interning here, and it's not like you can stay forever. People move on."

"Just let me try," he half-begged, holding onto her hand. "I'm not ready to leave you yet. I don't _want_ to leave you."

"Sasuke."

"I owe everything to you," he said. "Let me pay it back."

"…I get off at four." Sakura said. "Maybe we can get coffee."

"I fucking hate coffee," Sasuke muttered. But he smirked at her.

"Coffee sounds good."

* * *

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	8. Accidents Happen

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo8: Sakura was already nervous about her interview. The fact that she kept bumping into an accidental stranger didn't help much, either.

* * *

**.oo8.  
**_Accidents Happen_

The steady hum of the train echoed in her ears as Sakura kept checking her watch. There were still eight more stops before her destination and she was already ten minutes late.

"Can't you hurry it up?" she muttered to no one in particular as she watched passengers get on and off the train, sitting in seats and reading newspapers or listening to their iPods.

Her arm began to hurt from gripping the handle on the ceiling, and she wished that she'd took the chance to sit down and relax for a little bit. But the handle was closest to the door, and she needed to get out as quickly as possible when it was time so that she could sprint to her job interview.

"Excuse me," people muttered as they bumped into her as they entered and left. She was used as the punching bag, peoples' briefcases and backpacks slamming into her.

Soon, once the crowd of people disappeared, she felt someone stand next to her. He was tall, nearly a head and a half taller than her, and he didn't look at her at all. He looked straight forward, and she figured that he was in a rush, too.

"You're going to block the exit," he said, still not looking at her. She figured he had pretty good peripheral vision.

"Me? What about you?" she asked, raising her voice. She was already pissed off as is. "You're the big one."

The man next to her didn't say anything back, and she figured that she had won that round. Once the train continued its steady hum, she closed her eyes, hoping that maybe she could relax a little bit before the interview. The practice questions ran through her head, and she immediately became nervous.

"We're reaching a little bit of bumpy travel," the train radio said. As it finished speaking, Sakura's grip on the handle loosened and she fell right into the man next to her. With ease, he caught her with his free hand and helped her up.

"Careful," he said.

"I'm sorry," she bowed. Sakura felt embarrassed, and made sure that she gripped the handle tightly.

He shrugged. "Accidents happen."

It was quiet and awkward between them. Everyone else in the train was busy with their own affairs, but Sakura felt that she and the man next to her were out of place.

"So," she said. "Where's your stop?"

"Soon."

Figuring that he didn't want to talk, she didn't say anything back. When the next stop approached—six stops away from her destination—she immediately went to grab a free seat.

She sat down on the still-warm chair from the previous passenger and sighed in relief, stretching out her legs. The man walked over them and took the free seat next to her.

"Be careful," he said. "You almost left this there." He had her purse in his fist and handed it to her. "It was on the floor."

"Oh." Sakura blushed in embarrassment. "Thanks."

"Hn."

They were still abnormally quiet, and Sakura fiddled with her fingers, the questions running through her head. Still trying to review before the interview actually happened, she opened her purse and a million things spilled out, rolling under the seats and down the train.

"Oh my goodness." She felt her cheeks turn red, knowing that the guy was observing her with a smirk. Bending down to pick up her papers, wallet, and other things, she saw from the corner of her eye that he was helping her, too.

"Lots of makeup. And…aa." He handed her her makeup products and…her tampons.

"Thanks again," she muttered, refusing to meet his gaze. She stuck them all back into her purse and took out the paper with the interview questions on it.

"Going to an interview?" he asked, peering over her shoulder.

She hid the paper from him. There was no need for any more embarrassments today.

"Maybe."

"I could help you, you know…" he looked at the top of the paper. "Sakura."

"How do you—oh. Well, um. Okay. What's your name?"

"Sasuke."

"Sasuke." She put out her hand and received a warm, firm handshake. She immediately felt heat swoop down her body. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well. Now. Let me see that." He took the paper from her and scanned it over quickly. Sakura saw as his eyes brightened up slightly as he began.

"Let's start with the basics. Tell me about yourself."

"Well," she began. She immediately felt uncomfortable revealing herself to an unknown stranger she met on the train and had several accidents with, but she figured that she'd have to do the same with the interviewer. Except hopefully without the accidents.

"I'm twenty-two years old. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, but also having some solitude to myself. I like curling up on windowsills just like cats do and read books in the sunlight. I also like taking long baths with bubbles, because I can brood about life for a long time and feel squeaky-clean by the end of it. Oh, and I absolutely _love _black coffee."

She stared at Sasuke's blank expression. "Is that it?" he asked.

Sakura was worried. Was he unimpressed? Then how would the interviewer take it?

"Yeah," she said nervously. "That's it."

"It says a lot about you." He gave her a small smirk. "And that's good. I think the interviewer will want to know those things."

"I just hope he won't get mad. I'm already thirty minutes late, but there's only two more stops."

"I don't think he'll be angry as long as you show up," Sasuke said.

The radio in the train told the passengers that it was the seventh stop.

"Well," Sasuke said, picking up his things. "I got to go."

"Wait," Sakura said, standing up after him. The train buckled a little bit, and she fell right down onto his lap.

"Oh, uh," she stuttered. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Nice to meet you, Sakura. Hope your interview goes well."

"Thanks." She sat in her seat, watching as Sasuke left through the doors and was replaced by new, faceless people.

Sakura sighed and put her paper away. "I think I'll be ready. Shit. I should have made some coffee today."

.

.

.

Her heart was beating as she entered the building.

"You're Haruno Sakura, right? The interviewer is in his room. You can just walk in."

"Okay. Thanks," she said to the receptionist. Making sure everything was perfect, she took a deep breath and entered the room.

"Good morn—" she paused once she saw who was sitting in the chair. As if he were expecting her, he threw her a smirk.

"Good morning, Sakura."

"Y-You—but—but I—we were both late—"

"You look confused. It's alright. I would be, too." He walked towards her, handing her a hot Styrofoam cup. "Black. Just the way you like it. I would have prepared a bath for you, but unfortunately, we don't have any bathtubs in the office."

"_You're _the interviewer? Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura said, frozen in place.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" she was more astonished than angry.

"Accidents happen for a reason, I presume. Now, are you going to take this coffee before I burn my hand or watch me spill it all over my suit?"

She broke into a big smile and took the cup from him, taking a long, deep sip.

"Now. Let's begin the interview." He walked back to his desk and folded his hands, smirking at her.

"Question one. Tell me about yourself."

* * *

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	9. Bugs

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo9: In order to prove his love for Sakura, Sasuke has to eliminate all of Shino's bugs. But why does he find Shino so..._intriguing?_

* * *

**.oo9.  
**_Bugs_

Sasuke had a dilemma that involved proving his masculinity and love for Sakura or getting on the wrong side of someone he didn't _want_ to get on the wrong side of.

"If you really love me," Sakura began, her finger trailing down his chest and then back up to his Adam's apple. "Then you'd kill all those nasty bugs that Shino has. They scare the heck out of me, and I get goose bumps every time I see him with all those flies."

"I couldn't do that," Sasuke said. "First of all, they don't bother you. They just keep to him. And second, they're _his _bugs. That's like someone asking me to cut off all your hair because it bothered them."

Sakura frowned, removing her hand from his chest. "So you _don't _love me."

"Sakura," Sasuke began. "Come on. Don't do this."

"You know, Sasuke," she said, purposely dropping the suffix from his name to prove how disappointed she was. "I thought we had something special. Something _meaningful. _And after I sucked your—"

Sasuke quickly put his hand over her mouth and growled. "Stop it. Alright. I'll do the best I can for you. Okay? Just don't say any more crap."

He felt Sakura smirk under his mouth and she removed his hand to grab him by the collar and kiss him. "You're the best," she said. "And there'll be more of the sucking variety later toni—"

"Stop." Sasuke pressed his fingers against her lips. "I get it. I'm excited. But right now, you've given me a task, and I have to complete it."

Sakura saluted. "Godspeed, Uchiha-san."

.

.

.

Sasuke wasn't _scared_, per se, but Shino just made him feel uneasy. He didn't know if it was the fact that bugs swarmed all around him at all times or if there were equally beady eyes behind his spectacles, which he never took off.

"Aa," Sasuke nodded in Shino's direction, giving him acknowledgement.

"Sasuke-san." Shino nodded back before tending to his own matters, which was taking drops of sugar and placing it on the back of his hand so that his bugs would feed off his skin.

When Shino noticed that Sasuke wasn't going anywhere, he turned to face him. "Is there something you need, Sasuke-san?"

"Not yet," Sasuke muttered, thinking of the best way to eliminate the bugs and do Sakura and the rest of the female population a favor.

He heard a frantic buzzing next to his ear and swatted it with his hand. Shino walked over to Sasuke and began to softly stroke Sasuke's cheek.

"What are you—" Sasuke began, before Shino withdrew his hand and placed his bug friend back in his coat.

"Little bugger likes to say hi. Apparently he smells something sweet on you. Have you been with Sakura-san lately?"

"…Recently." His cheek still felt numb from when Shino touched it, and for a moment, he was assessing his sexuality.

"And I presume that she sent you here?" Shino said. He gently stroked the back of one of the bugs' back with his pinky finger. "Because she, like other women, want to see me perfumed in bug spray?"

"…Perhaps."

Shino smiled, and through a small glint in his spectacles, Sasuke could see light brown-gray eyes that were almost…_pretty_.

"These guys and I are immune to bug spray. It's something I've trained them to do through genetic inbreeding. I suggest that you go back to Sakura-san and tell her that you tried, but it was futile. After all, I don't want you to end up with multiple bug bites."

"Well," Sasuke began. "Hn."

"Hn to you, too. Good day, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke, completely befuddled, turned back to go report to Sakura. At the moment, he didn't know what to say to her about the bugs. Or Shino.

.

.

.

"So?" Sakura asked, gripping Sasuke's forearms eagerly. "Did you kill them?"

Sasuke lied through his teeth. "Hn."

"Yes? You did? Oh, Sasuke-kun!" She kissed his cheeks twice. "You're the best!" Her fingers made way toward his belt, but he stopped her at the last second.

"I'm excited and all," he began, taking her fingers in his hands. "But you know how fast bugs reproduce. There could be some more right now. It's impossible to get rid of all of them."

Sakura frowned. "But—"

"I got rid of most of them. However, they might come back in bigger numbers."

"You don't love me at all, do you?" Sakura frowned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I do love you," he said. "But you ask too much of me."

"Then I'm sorry." She kissed him softly. "But we're not going to see him ever again."

Sasuke thought of the embarrassment that occurred when Shino stroked his cheek or when he looked at him with those gorgeous eyes and—

"Yeah," Sasuke said quickly. "Not again."

* * *

**ShinoSasuke wtf am I doing HAHAHA.  
**

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	10. Recipe

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o10: Sakura had read in a magazine that dressing up as Sasuke's favorite food would please him. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned...

* * *

**.o10.  
**_Recipe_

Doing something like this was a recipe for disaster, Sakura thought as she waited in the bedroom stark naked under the sheets in an attempt to be sexy.

Apparently, while she was browsing through _Cosmopolitan_, it was a good idea that instead of _making _your significant other's favorite recipe, you _be _his or her favorite recipe. And Sakura was there in the bedroom, a giant tomato costume hand-sewn and then angrily stuffed under the bed, with bowls of chopped tomatoes and various other foods she knew Sasuke liked.

It was only a matter of time before he got off from work and came home to see—

Sakura froze. She wouldn't let Sasuke see her like this. And here she was, taking advice from a magazine that said it was apparently a _good _idea to put Icy Hot on your nipples for total pleasure.

She grabbed her breasts and winced, remembering the pain that had come.

Jumping off the bed, Sakura began to gather her clothes and put them on as quickly as possible when she heard the bedroom door open.

"Sakura? I couldn't find you in the living room so—oh."

Sasuke stared at his fiancée, who was half-naked and barely covering herself. His eyes saw the tomato suit next to the bed and then back at her. The curve of her breasts and the slight shine of her creamy thighs made him tug at his collar a little bit.

"Uh," he began. "What are you doing?"

Sakura gulped. "Trying to be sexy."

"Can I ask what you're…uh, doing?" he felt heat rush to his cheeks and to other lower regions of his body and cursed himself for feeling that way.

"I'm being your favorite recipe. At least, I tried to."

Sasuke paused. "This isn't one of those _Icy Hot _things we tried before, right?"

Sasuke, too, had put Icy Hot on his family jewels and winced.

Sakura shook her head. "No. I was trying to be a tomato so that you could…_eat me_."

His eyes ran up and down her body, and he walked towards her.

"Stop covering yourself," he said, prying her arms apart. "You're so beautiful as is." He brought her close to him and kissed her ear and neck before moving down to cup her breasts and then grip his hands on her hips. Sasuke positioned them so that the tip of his arousal pressed against her womanhood, and she moaned.

"I always want to eat you. You're just so delectable."

Sasuke pushed her onto the bed and began to loosen his tie and shirt.

"Wait!" Sakura began. "Don't you want the toma—"

"Forget the tomato," Sasuke growled. "All I want is you." His lips met hers again in a heated kiss, and she helped him take his shirt off while her nimble fingers quickly worked at his belt.

"You're excited," he murmured with a smirk, his mouth moving down to suck on her breast. His teeth grazed her nipple and she moaned, throwing her head back.

"They're hard," he said, thumbing them gently.

"So are you," she retorted.

Sasuke smirked, his fingers moving down her stomach into her warmth. Sakura opened herself wider to him and he began to insert three of his digits, pumping rhythmically as she gripped the back of his neck.

"Aa," she moaned. "Sasuke-kun, I want—"

"What is it?" he purred. "What do you want, Sakura?"

"I want your—I want it," she cried, her fingers digging into his skin. He took out his hand and licked them sensually in front of her.

"You taste good. I want to eat you again."

Sakura blushed heavily when she realized that Sasuke was lowering his head to her inner thighs.

With his tongue, he lapped up her juices from her orgasm like a cat, flicking her swollen clit teasingly. Sakura cried out, gripping the blankets next to her, and she was begging for him to continue and to never stop.

"Please," she begged.

"Please what?" he teased, lifting up his eyes to meet hers. He licked his lips.

"Love me," she cried, tears forming. "I love you so much."

Sasuke began to soften. Although he knew they weren't painful tears, he hated seeing her cry, even if they were happy or pleasurable tears.

Sasuke positioned himself in front of her and held her hands.

"I love you," he murmured. "And I love everything about you."

"Do you think this is a recipe for our love?" Sakura said, blinking away her tears and giggling.

He shook his head, smirking, the tip of him poking into her. "Don't talk right now," he said. "But as lame as that was, yes, it is."

Sasuke entered her.

.

.

.

Sakura loved having Sasuke's arms around her as he spooned her from behind. He smelled her hair and stroked her stomach gently as Sakura stared straight at the unused tomato costume.

"Sasuke-kun," she said. "What do we do with that?"

"Hn?"

"The tomato."

She felt him smirk on her neck. "I never said I didn't want to use it. I think you'd be enticing. Two of my favorite foods all in one. Hm."

Sakura closed her eyes and smiled.

"You know," she began. "Bananas are my favorite food. So, uh, if you'd want to do something interesting with that…"

* * *

**;)**

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	11. Classified

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o11: Sasuke needs some top-secret files from Sakura's office, but she refuses to give them to him. Fortunately, he has ways of getting the information he needs...

* * *

**.o11.  
**_Classified_

"You know I can't do that," Sakura said, organizing the paperwork and placing them into neat piles on the sides of her desk.

"Come on," Sasuke said, leaning forward so that his hands were right in front of Sakura's work station. "Sakura, you know that I need these files."

"I'm sorry, _Uchiha-san_," she stressed as she saw one of her coworkers walking by. Once the person passed, she leaned forward and whispered angrily into his ear, "Sasuke-kun, you know that I'm working right now and if Tsunade finds out that I gave you the top-secret classified files, I'll definitely lose my job!"

"At least sneak one of the scrolls out," Sasuke muttered. "They have some jutsus in there that I desperately need to know how to do, and I'll copy it down and return it to you within the hour."

"Sasuke-kun, I can't. Now stop bothering me." She pulled herself back from Sasuke and continued to organize the massive loads of paperwork she had.

From the corner of her eye, she saw how he glanced at the employee door behind her.

"Don't even try going back there," she said, not even lifting up her eyes. "They'll catch you. _I'll _catch you. And I'll never forgive you for making me get fired."

"You need a break," Sasuke said. He went around the desk and took Sakura by the wrist, causing her to drop all the papers that she had just sorted out.

"Hey!" Sakura cried. "That took a lot of work!"

Sasuke gripped her wrist. "Come on. I'll buy you a drink. You need to relax."

"B-But who's going to watch the desk while I'm gone?"

"Relax," Sasuke said, turning around to face her. He took her face in his hands and couldn't help but note how cute her face was when her cheeks were squeezed slightly. "You deserve some time off."

"Okay," Sakura sighed. "But just a small break."

.

.

.

"You're not, like, trying to get me drunk or something so that you can sneak back and get the file, right?" Sakura asked as she stirred her tea.

"Of course not," Sasuke said. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I took advantage of you like that?"

"An ex-boyfriend," Sakura murmured. She stared down at the tea.

"You could have roofied this. You drink it first."

Sasuke had to laugh. "Why are you so skeptical? Fine." He took a large swig of her tea. "Happy?"

"Swallow it."

Sasuke smirked. "Now you sound like me."

Sakura blushed heavily, hoping that nobody she knew heard, and slapped him on the arm.

"Sasuke-kun! Don't say that!"

After a few moments, she noted that Sasuke seemed in perfectly good condition, so she drank the rest of the tea.

"Well," she said, checking her watch. "I should be getting back to work now."

"Let me walk you back," Sasuke said.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You _really _want those classified files, don't you?"

"Maybe I'm just trying to be a good guy. Ever think about that, hn?" Sasuke said, his arm around Sakura's waist.

Sakura sighed.

.

.

.

"You know," Sakura said, watching as Sasuke sat in a chair observing her. "You don't have to stay here. You can go train or spar with Naruto or something. Or work on your own jutsus. You don't need that scroll. Just make something up and hope something will work."

Sasuke shook his head. "I just want to watch my beautiful girl work at her daily job. Is there something against that?"

"Yeah, when you're trying to use me to get some stupid scrolls," Sakura muttered.

Sasuke walked over to her and used his finger to make a line from her cheek down to the top of her breasts. "Maybe I just want to see how sexy you can be when you work."

"Sasuke-kun, stop it," Sakura said, pushing him away. "What if somebody sees?"

"Who cares?" he murmured, his lips against her cheek. "After all," he said, his right hand palming her left breast through her uniform. "It's always just been you and me."

"Stop," she moaned. "I can't focus on my work."

"You don't have to work when you're with me." He kissed her neck and sat in her chair, his hands on her bottom, pulling her on top of him.

"I'm so uncomfortable," she complained, feeling him poke her thigh. "Reposition yourself," she ordered him.

Sasuke smirked. "As you wish, _Haruno-san_."

He moved Sakura so that she was settled comfortably on top of his lap. He loved this position; not only was he eye-level with her perfect breasts, but his manhood was also unrestrained against her heat.

"Are you—" she began, her blush spreading down to her neck. "You're _not_. Sasuke-kun!" she whined.

Sasuke's sly smile was apparent to her as he reached down beneath her hips and under her skirt.

"No pantyhose?" he asked, his fingers moving her panties aside.

"I wasn't expecting people to look up my skirt," she moaned as his fingers brushed her clit. "Nor was I expecting you to—aah!"

Sakura threw her head back as Sasuke played with her pussy, teasing it incessantly.

"I'm gonna cum," she cried out, using her hand to diminish the sound. Sasuke pulled it apart.

"Let everyone hear," he said.

"I can't—I—"

She spilled herself all over his fingers and he took them out. Unzipping his pants, he settled her adequately over him and plunged into her.

"Fuck," he growled as his fingers dug into her hips. "You feel great, and so fucking…_tight_."

Sakura's breasts bounced with each thrust, and she held onto his shoulders to keep steady. "You're so big," she cried. "It feels so good."

"Let yourself go again," Sasuke said, his mouth over her clothed nipple, biting it gently with his teeth. "Free yourself."

As soon as he said that, he released his seed into her and felt her own warmth envelop him. She collapsed on his body, her arms around his neck. Her fingers moved sweaty locks of his bangs away from his face and kissed him.

"Fine," she said, removing herself from his lap. "I'll give you the scrolls."

.

.

.

Although it was a pleasurable and passionate day at work, it was still a long day. Sakura arrived home, still horny and exhausted.

"So," she began, looking at how Sasuke's eyes eagerly followed the scroll. "How were the jutsus?"

Sasuke showed her the scrolls. "There were none," he said. "But I think this is better. It's Tsunade and Jiraiya's very own Kama Sutra." He pointed out one picture he was particularly fond of. "How about you and I go practice, hm?"

Even though she was extremely tired, she was still craving him. Grabbing the scroll from his hands, she stuffed it into her purse in a huff and took his hand.

"Get over here. And don't you think about seducing me again to get more of those drawings."

Sasuke smirked, following her into the bedroom. He wouldn't dream of it.

* * *

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	12. Chasing a Dream

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o12: Sakura's been chasing the dream of having Sasuke love her back for so long that she's lost sight of who she was. But it's okay. She's a big girl now.

* * *

**.o12.  
**_Chasing a Dream_

I've always wanted Sasuke to love me. Maybe, at least, have some sort of attraction towards me.

Even right now, as we're fighting together on this battlefield, I'm not sure if he sees me as something more than a teammate or a friend. I've wanted for so long to be part of his life—not just as part of his family, but something more than that. A girl that he can lean on, love, and even cry if he needed to cry.

"Sakura," he says to me as we're fighting. "You've improved a lot."

If he had said that to me when I was younger, I probably would have burst into tears of happiness. Right now, I don't have time to think about those things. I nod my head at him and continue fighting, and feel his back press up against mine as we're pushing away the enemies.

The warmth of him reminds me of so many times that I've held him. On the bridge where he nearly died, in the Forest of Death, and when he held me in his arms while I fell from the trees.

I almost let my guard down for one second, but Sasuke immediately slits the man's throat before he can come at me.

"Thanks," I mutter quickly, but I vow to not let him see me distracted like that again. Sasuke responds with his usual "hn," caught up in the fight, and he doesn't pay attention to my faults.

I refuse to be the person that follows his back. Immediately, I push him aside and punch the ground, forming craters that swallow up the incoming enemies.

Sasuke stares at me in slight awe. "Good job," he notes.

"Thanks."

Before he left, all I wanted to do was be with Sasuke. I wanted to hold him. To kiss him. To _touch _him. Every time I gripped his arm against mine, I wanted to bring us closer together. Every time that I asked him for a date—to which he politely refused—my heart broke a little bit, but I vowed that I would never give up.

And then that one night, that fateful night that brought us here today, was the time that I realized that I was truly in love with him and never wanted anything more than for him to love me back.

"You're annoying."

Those words burned through my soul, but he was smirking when he said that and I knew that he wasn't angry at me. He was just stating facts. I was annoying. I may still be annoying. But I never gave up.

"Wait." Sasuke's voice echoed through my ears as he took his hand in mine. I felt warmth surge through my body and tried to see what he was looking at.

"Right over there. Rogue ninjas." I don't think he realized that he was still holding my hand, but he turned to me and said, "Wait here. I'm going after them."

I saw him run with lightning speed and felt my throat choke up a little bit. Without knowing it, I was crying. My eyes watered up, but I quickly wiped them away with my forearm. It was no time for tears.

Sasuke chased after the hidden enemies. I remember how he used to chase the dream of being an avenger and killing his brother.

Well, he did, didn't he?

I, too, have chased a dream that never came true. I wanted Sasuke to love me like a man loves a woman. And I know for certain that he cares about me in the same way that he cares about Naruto, or Sai, or Kakashi, but it's not love.

Maybe that's all I can ask for.

I can hear Sasuke running back to my position with blood splattered on his clothes, and I admire him for being so fast.

Sasuke looks at my face and notes that I've been crying. He doesn't say anything, even though I'm sure that he knows. He stands back to back with me and prepares us for the next band of opponents.

"Are you ready?" he asks, his voice deep. I've always imagined what that voice would sound like if it told me that it loved me.

I wipe away the fresh stream of tears and smirk.

"I'm ready."

* * *

**sort of angsty?**

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**Sorry for late update.**


	13. Fish Out of Water

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o13: Sasuke's a fish out of water when it comes to being around Sakura's bubbly personality. Too bad for him, he has to stay with her attitude for three weeks until they finish their project together.

* * *

**.o13.  
**_Fish Out of Water_

Sasuke wanted to hang himself when he found out that he, the stoic genius that never said anything during class, was partnered with the dumb bubbly female for a science project.

"Sensei," Sasuke said after class. The teacher was slightly surprised; Sasuke never talked at all, and everyone just assumed that he was deaf and mute.

"Yes, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke muttered under his breath, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone else was peeking through the classroom doors to hear him talk.

"I can't be partnered with Sakura. She'll just drag me down."

"Nonsense, Uchiha-san. You need to learn how to work with people you dislike. Plus, you never know. She can help you break out of your shell." The teacher gave Sasuke a pat on the head, to which Sasuke frowned.

"Now run along, boy. And don't forget: the project is due in three weeks. Make sure you get along."

"Hn."

.

.

.

He decided to meet up with Sakura at her locker to discuss the project layout. Unfortunately, she had a group of friends around her and they were all talking about some boy band and feminine topics like makeup and clothes and whatnot, and Sasuke immediately felt out of place and uncomfortable, like a fish out of water.

"Sasuke!" Sakura said cheerfully as her friends giggled behind her. She noticed that he was glaring at the posse behind her, so Sakura quickly shooed them away so that Sasuke could talk to her without feeling _too _uncomfortable.

"We need to lay down some rules," Sasuke said. "First of all. You will _not _bring me down. We are going to work on this together, and if I find out that you're slacking or not doing your part, I'll be sure to make your life hell. Second, we will meet every Wednesday and Saturday at the public library to do our research and work. Third, you will always come alone with no distractions. Your cell phone must be off and you cannot focus on anything else that isn't related to the project."

Sakura paused for a second. Sasuke wondered if he broke her mind, considering how stupid she was.

"Don't you worry," Sakura said. "I got it all under control."

"Good." Sasuke began to walk away before he forgot one more important thing.

"Oh, and if you're late, I'll kill you."

He expected her face to fall or cower in fear, but she gave him a big grin and two thumbs up. "Don't you worry, Sasuke, I'll be on time!"

Sasuke already knew that she was going to be a pain in the ass.

.

.

.

"Our project topic is about genetics. I hope that you've been listening during class, because I'm sure as hell not going to explain the whole thing over to you again," Sasuke whispered angrily since they were in a public library.

"Don't worry," Sakura said. "I've got everything under control."

Sasuke bit his lip. He figured that Sakura had no idea what he was talking about and that she certainly _did not _have everything under control.

"Relax," she said happily, her warm personality spreading through his face in the form of a blush. "You need to let loose a little bit. Trust me."

How could he? His grades depended on both their work.

"Fine."

"Okay, then." She smiled widely. "Let's go get some books."

.

.

.

Sasuke came back with a huge array of books, each of them with at least 1000 pages. His arms ached after carrying them back to the desk, where he saw Sakura with an equal (if not greater) collection of books that she was quickly skimming.

Sasuke was fairly surprised.

"You were fast," he said.

She looked up at him and grinned. "I know how to do my research. I'm not that stupid," she said, emphasizing her words.

He immediately felt a little sorry that he judged her so quickly, considering that everybody else assumed she was stupid due to her bright personality.

Setting the books down, he leaned over to see what she had done so far.

"Oh," Sakura said. "This is my third book that I'm skimming. I have all the notes that I took of the previous books right here." She handed loose leaf papers to him and he saw that not only had she gotten the main points down, her handwriting was precise and script-like.

"These are…_good_," Sasuke said, almost in awe. He was confused about his feelings of Sakura. Was she still the idiot girl he and the rest of his classmates secretly made fun of, or was she actually smarter than she looked?

Sasuke had no idea how to behave or act with her.

"Thanks," Sakura said, taking them back. "Shall we start?"

"Hn." _Yes_.

.

.

.

The second week passed, and Sasuke and Sakura had done a considerable amount of research and working together. Sasuke was impressed with Sakura's knowledge and study skills, and he smacked himself in the head for ever doubting her.

However, he was still confused of his feelings of her. She was so warm and open and friendly towards him that he didn't know what to feel. It completely contrasted with his cold, aloof lifestyle and he felt as out of place as a fish out of water.

"I was thinking…you know, this is just an idea, and don't take it the wrong way," Sakura began. "But to demonstrate genetics, I think we should give them a visual image. Perhaps we can go on those websites where they take the genes from both the man and the woman and make a baby?"

"I guess," Sasuke said. He trusted Sakura enough to let her reign her half of the project.

"But, uh, maybe we could use our pictures. You know? Plus, it'll really show how well we've worked together and stuff."

Sasuke didn't know what to do. Her proposal was a bit awkward, and although he understood her idea, he wasn't sure if he was totally onboard.

"You know, we don't have to do it," Sakura said quickly. "It's just an idea."

"It's a good idea," Sasuke said. "Let's do it."

He saw Sakura smile from the corner of his eye and she put her hand on his shoulder.

"You're a really great person, you know that? I wish there were more people like you."

Although he couldn't explain why, Sasuke felt a rush of guilt overcome him.

.

.

.

"…And that's our project on genetics. Any questions?" Sakura said while she and Sasuke presented their project to the class.

Everyone was in awe at how well the project turned out, especially Sakura's portion of it. No longer was she the class dunce that everyone secretly made fun of behind her back, but they admired her, not only for her brains but also for her kindness.

Sasuke hadn't talked the whole time. He let Sakura take care of the speech and simply pointed out some pictures. It was a little weird when he showed the pictures of them that they combined to make the baby (which, he admitted, was pretty cute), but overall, he couldn't have asked for a better partner to help him with his project.

"Excellent work, you two," the teacher said. "Both of you are such a great couple together. Couple, as in partners. Not—well, anyway."

Sasuke saw how brightly Sakura's eyes lit up, and after class, he confronted her.

"Sakura," he said. "Thanks for being a great partner."

"It was my pleasure!" she said cheerily. "I loved working with you. It was fun."

"Yeah." He paused for a second. "I'm sorry."

Sakura looked confused. "About what?"

"I judged you simply on how others treated you. You're smarter than you let on, and I think everybody knows that now. But I assumed you were just some silly girl who couldn't do anything but be happy, and in some ways, I admire you for being so bubbly."

He saw how Sakura's face fell a little bit.

"Well, you know, it's been kind of hard for me. When my mom died a couple years back, I cried all the time. But she always told me to keep smiling, no matter what, and so I just kind of lived with it and smile every day so that she didn't die in vain."

"I feel ill-fitting next to you. We're polar opposites."

Sakura gave him a small smile before leaning in and kissing him quickly on the cheek.

"But I think we work. I've got to go to my next class. See you later, Sasuke-kun."

His cheek burned as he watched Sakura prance away happily.

_Maybe_, he thought. _She's not so bad after all._

* * *

**Meh, this one was lame.**

**REVIEWIWEWEWEWEEWEW**


	14. Our First Place

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o14: The first place where they met means the world to them because of the moments they shared there. But even though the place is gone, the memories stay. And that's enough.

* * *

**.o14.  
**_Our First Place_

"Hey. You're sitting in my spot."

It was a grassy hill covered in rows of flowers and bits of nature, with a large plum blossom tree providing a great area of shade.

Sakura looked up through her sleepy eyes at the businessman standing in front of her, wearing an expensive suit. He folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently against the grass.

"Mm?" Sakura asked, her head resting on the bark of the tree. "What spot?"

"That's my spot," the man said, his voice deep and fierce.

Sakura turned to observe the tree thoroughly. "I don't see your name on it."

The man waved his arm around in a half-circle. "I own the whole park. This area is owned by Uchiha Corp, and this spot," he continued. "Is dedicated to me. Uchiha Sasuke."

"…Prove it," Sakura said. She refused to get up just because some bully told her to do so.

Sasuke was frustrated. He knew that he could have any spot he wanted right now, but all he wanted was the spot that she was sitting in.

"See that plaque?" Sasuke asked, pointing to a stone tablet nailed deep into the ground. "Read it."

"You read it for me," Sakura said. "I'm too tired to get up."

Sasuke almost growled. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sleepy." Sakura yawned, stretching her arms out. "If you'd like, you can sit next to me and join me for an afternoon nap."

"What the—I'm not going to sleep with you! I just want my favorite spot back."

She hadn't heard him. Her eyes were closed, and her head lolled back as she snored softly.

Sasuke wasn't sure what to do. Should he let her win this round, or do something about it?

He decided to do the latter.

Rolling up his sleeves to his forearms, he lifted up the girl with ease—he was surprised by how light she was and nearly toppled over, expecting her to be heavier—and moved her on the other side of the tree. She hadn't budged in her sleep, and after the deed was done, Sasuke relaxed against the tree where she had just fallen asleep and sighed in pleasure.

Today was a good day.

.

.

.

Unfortunately for him, that pleasure didn't last long. The next day he went to go to his place of recluse only to see her sitting there again, reading a book.

"It's you," Sakura said. "Mr. Uchiha Sasuke of Uchiha Corp."

"You've heard of us, then?" Sasuke asked, hoping she'd have some idea how powerful and famous he really was.

Sakura shook her head. "No. You just told me yesterday. And thanks for moving me," she said with a teasing sarcasm. "The sun was getting in my eyes."

"Hn."

"I'm Sakura. You're welcome to sit down next to me. Or will your million dollar suit get grass stains?" she seethed.

"For your information," Sasuke retorted. "This is a custom-made Armani suit, which cost four thousand dollars. More than you make in a month."

Sakura winced. "Ouch. That was a low hit." She put down her book, which he noted was a clearly worn-out copy of _Catcher in the Rye_. "Forget about sitting down next to me. Holden's sitting here."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her childish behavior. "Move over." He rolled up his sleeves again and pocketed the book. As Sakura protested and moved to retrieve her precious Holden Caulfield, Sasuke smirked as he sat down gracefully under his favorite spot.

However, he couldn't help but notice how good it smelled—a feminine smell that had never been there before Sakura.

"You dirty little rascal," Sakura said, shaking her head. "You win this time."

"Hn."

Today was a day for relaxing.

.

.

.

The next few weeks was a back and forth of the two having childish arguments about whose seat it was, and usually, Sakura got there before Sasuke because to him, she was "an unemployed hipster who has nothing better to do but read about whiny teenagers just like herself."

And then, one day, Sasuke decided he'd had enough.

"Fine," he said. "You win. Alright?"

Sakura hadn't moved her face, but her eyes darted up from her new book: a love story, from what he could tell.

"Mm?" Sakura asked.

"I refuse to engage in such childish behaviors with you. It's yours. Why not just tear my plaque down and engrave your name. How about that?"

"Listen," Sakura said, standing up. She remained in the same spot because she felt that Sasuke was tricking her. "If you're so caught up about it, you could just ask me politely. I don't bite. Much. And plus, all you've done is treat me like crap so far. If you had been kinder to me, I'd gladly let you share or even use it for some time."

Sasuke paused, noting how in fact _he _was the kid in this situation.

"I'll just find a new spot." Sakura began to pack her things and leave until Sasuke called out her name and reached for her wrist to grip it tight.

"Wait, Sakura," he said. He saw how she froze against his touch and wondered if he was holding her too tight. His fingers loosened around her skin and she turned to look back at him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was wrong."

Sasuke expected Sakura to slap him with the book or just walk away, but she smiled.

"You're a good guy, Sasuke. Take a seat with me, won't you? I want to read you one of my favorite pieces from this book." She took his hand in her own—and he noted how smooth her skin was, and how fragile and dainty and tiny her hand was in his—and led them to _their _spot. Sakura began to read.

"In this moment, Yuriko looked at her lover's eyes with such care…"

.

.

.

Spring was approaching summer, and every day after work Sasuke would come to his area of the park and find Sakura there, either with a new book or some music she was listening to. And every time she would either read him a passage or share her earbuds with him.

It was a nice connection, Sasuke mused, sharing some time alone with a beautiful and friendly stranger. Although he didn't know too much about Sakura, like whom her family was and what grades she got in school, he knew her favorite books, music, colors, dreams, and fantasies. And to him, that was enough.

They were currently listening to a sweet, slow song that was perfect for dancing under the moon. Sakura hummed along quietly, so as not to disturb Sasuke's listening experience, and Sasuke let the music flow through his ears.

_"Let me see you, love," _Sakura sang softly. "_So I can kiss you, touch you, love you…always, and not just tonight."_

At that moment, Sasuke couldn't explain what came over him. He ripped the earbud out of his ear and kissed Sakura, his lips against hers in a heated lock. Sakura was surprised and didn't know what to do until Sasuke pulled apart and admired her swollen lips.

"I'm sorry," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have—"

He was silenced again, only to have Sakura's lips on top of his.

"I like you," she breathed. "So it's okay."

Sasuke looked back at her smiling face that shone with innocence.

Sakura continued. "Anything's okay when I'm with you."

.

.

.

Although they never formally admitted it, both Sasuke and Sakura considered each other to be boyfriend and girlfriend, respectively. He took her out on dates that didn't involve the plum blossom tree and even introduced her to his family and the rest of Uchiha Corp, although they both left out details on how exactly they met each other.

"Coffee shop," he said.

"Bookstore," she added, although they realized that they never quite agreed on a story that they could both stick with.

It didn't matter anyway. Although the pink hair put Sasuke's parents off slightly, Mikoto came to love and enjoy her son's choice for a girlfriend and Fugaku even put aside his feelings of odd, quirky girls to embrace Sakura.

"So," Mikoto said, nudging Sasuke playfully. "When are you going to ask her to be your wife?"

Sakura immediately blushed, and Sasuke's cheeks reddened slightly as well.

"Mom," he said. "We've only met."

Sasuke's arm around Sakura tightened and she put her hand on his chest to bring herself closer to him. Mikoto shrugged and let go of the topic for a while, but Sasuke was embarrassed. Although they only knew each other for about four months, he was in love with her and just didn't know if she felt the same way.

"Don't worry about it," he said, kissing Sakura's forehead. "She'll forget all about it."

_Maybe I don't want to, _Sakura thought as she hugged Sasuke.

.

.

.

It was mid-November, and although the couple was still going strong and meeting each other under the plum blossom tree, Sasuke had a confession to make.

"Sakura," he said, his voice grave as he walked over to his couch that she was sitting on. "Can I talk to you?"

Sakura put down the book she was reading. "Of course," she said. "Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?"

Sasuke shook his head, sighing. "Uchiha Corp is going to tear down the park. They're going to replace our first place with some buildings." He gripped Sakura's hands tight. "I tried to convince them to keep it, but the committee all voted against me. There's nothing I can do."

He saw Sakura's eyes well up with tears, but she sniffed and tried to wipe them away.

"When is it going to go?"

"In a week," he said. He embraced Sakura, who finally let the tears fall onto his shoulder. "Sakura, I'm sorry."

She pulled apart, sniffing. "Come with me."

"With you where? It's nearly midnight," Sasuke said.

Sakura pushed him away from her and grabbed her coat. "Please," she begged.

He saw how desperate she was for him to follow her and sighed. Putting on his overcoat and packing both of them scarves, he followed her out his house and to wherever she was going.

.

.

.

"Why are we here?" Sasuke asked as he felt flurries of snow sprinkle onto his nose. The plum tree was dark and barren except for one measly flower over them, and Sakura leaned against the bark, letting out a sigh.

"This place has a lot of memories for me," she said. "I sat here every day by myself. And with you." She slid down the trunk and onto the grass, where Sasuke sat next to her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and he pushed a lock of hair away.

He felt Sakura breathe on his cheek when her hand started to trail down his shoulders and onto his groin. She paused there for a second before using her hand to unbuckle his belt.

"Sakura." Sasuke pulled apart from her. "What are you doing?"

"I want to make love," she said softly. "I've never known what sex feels like, but all I know is that I want it with you."

Sasuke gripped the sides of her shoulders. "Sakura, don't say things that you'll regret. The cold is making you delusional. Let's go back home."

"No," she said firmly. "I'm not leaving until we fuck here."

"Don't say that," he said angrily. "I'd never fuck you."

"Then prove it!" she said, raising her voice.

_Prove it_, her voice echoed in his ears the first time they met.

"I don't have to prove anything to you," he said. "I love you. You should know that."

Her eyes widened when she heard his spoken confession, and she immediately quieted down.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to pressure you. But I want it. I've been craving it for months ever since we had our first kiss here."

Sasuke saw how upset Sakura was at the fact that their beloved place would be torn down, and he understood that she wanted to have one more last time under the tree before it was gone.

"I've never been with a virgin," he said softly. "And I haven't had sex in a while, so I don't know how rusty I'll be."

Sakura's hand stroked his cheek. "It doesn't matter when you're with me," she said, pressing her lips to his. "_Anything's okay when I'm with you_."

That set him off. Sasuke kissed her passionately, his lips heating her whole body in one motion. He undid the buttons of his coat and set them down on the cold grass so that she wouldn't have to lie on something hard and frozen, and her touch immediately made up for his numbness by spreading fire throughout his veins.

His lips moved down to her neck, then to the top of her breasts, and he cupped her bosom through her clothes, his finger tracing over her hardened nipple.

"Please," Sakura begged. "I can't wait any longer." Her voice oozed with carnal desire and Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. He unzipped his pants and quickly tugged off her skirt and panties and plunged into her harder than he would have liked.

Sakura cried out before biting her lip to cease the noise when he left her and held her.

"Shit, I'm sorry," he muttered. "Are you hurt?"

"Again," she choked out. "I want more."

"I can't do it if you're going to scream like that—"

"Please," she repeated. She showed how much she wanted him by leading his length back towards her, and seeing the seriousness in her eyes, entered her again, this time more gentle.

They were steady, rhythmic thrusts. Sakura was used to his tempo and her body had accepted Sasuke after a short while, until she began to feel her back arch and Sasuke's beat quicken.

His fingers dug into her hips and he growled in pleasure.

"Sakura," he moaned. "You're gonna cum with me."

She didn't know what he meant until she felt herself spill all over Sasuke's manhood. His fingers released themselves from her hips and brought her close to him, covering her nakedness with his coat.

As they panted together, Sasuke kissed her forehead. "I love you so much," he whispered.

Sakura was about to say something when she felt something in her hair. Sasuke pulled it out and looked at it before looking back up at the tree.

"The last flower," he said.

"Our last time here." She placed the flower into Sasuke's coat pocket.

They sat there in silence, Sakura seated on Sasuke's lap and her head on his shoulder.

"Please hold me," she asked. He held her tight with no intention of letting go.

.

.

.

They were still together a year later, only this time, Sakura had an engagement ring around her finger and Sasuke had a secret tattoo of her name _somewhere _on his body that was meant for her eyes only.

The part of the park dedicated to Sasuke had been demolished and replaced, but the flower that had fallen on them the night they made love was still with them, although wilted.

Holding hands, they walked over to see that a tea shop had been placed on the property, and that empty tables showed that there had been customers at least an hour ago. Sasuke felt Sakura tense up and he squeezed her hand for comfort.

"Your plaque is still there," Sakura noted, pointing to a spot where the grass didn't grow. They walked over to it and read it out loud.

_Dedicated to Uchiha Sasuke  
February 16th, 2012_

"It's for you, too," he added. "You'll be my wife. We share everything."

"Sasuke-kun…"

He brought her to him and kissed her. "We've had good times here. I met you at this place. We shared books and music and kisses in this spot. We made love here. I'll forget other things when I'm older, but I'll never forget our first place. I fell in love here." He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "I hope I can say the same for you."

Tears rushed to Sakura's eyes as she flung her arms around Sasuke. Words didn't come out of her mouth, but he knew what she meant.

There was no more tree where they could sit and read together, or listen to music made for dancing, or share secret, flirty kisses, or make sweet love. But there were memories.

And that, to Sasuke, was good enough.

* * *

**MAN this was long...lol. I had such a good idea for it and then when I went to write it I was like THIS ISNT ANYTHING I THOUGHT IT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE UGH.**

**sappiness ftw**

**REVIEW PLEASE GUYS I LOVE YOU COME ON.**


	15. Grounded

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o15: Sakura's grounded from seeing Sasuke. In order to see her, Sasuke takes drastic measures, although being Prince Charming was harder than he thought. The rock against the window didn't help too much, either.

* * *

**.o15.  
**_Grounded_

Nothing about the punishment she received was fair. Sakura knew this as she huffed in her room, crossing her arms angrily. So what if her parents caught her sneaking out to meet Sasuke? It wasn't like she was going to smoke weed or something or commit a murder. She was just sneaking out to meet her boyfriend. And he wasn't even a pedophile. They were the same ages.

Her parents had taken away her cell phone so she couldn't scheme a plan with Sasuke to escape from the house. So basically, she was as locked in as Harry Potter was until Ron Weasley came to bail him out.

"He's probably so worried about me," Sakura sighed as she plopped down onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. "I wish I could tell him that I'm alright…"

.

.

.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was out at a karaoke bar (courtesy of Naruto), downing sodas like crazy. He couldn't bear to hear Naruto sing _Don't Stop Believing _any more, and with the group of girls clinging onto him, it was impossible for him to leave.

"Stop it," he told them. "I have a girlfriend."

They cooed, stroking his chin. "Really? Then why isn't she here with you?" They inched closer to him, their fingers trialing down in various places of his body, but he slapped their hands aside.

"She's busy," Sasuke said. He knew that Sakura had no doubt he was faithful to her, but at the same time, he just wanted to see her and felt that it was unfair that _she _was scolded on account of his behavior.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Their heads leaned against his shoulder, taking deep whiffs of his cologne that she bought for him on his birthday. "Mm, you smell _good_."

Naruto was too busy going onto the next song (Bohemian Rhapsody) to pay attention to Sasuke. Deciding he'd had enough of being a gentleman, Sasuke pushed the two aside and smacked Naruto in the back of the head.

"Scaramouche! Scaramou—ouch, what was that for?" Naruto shouted, holding the back of his head as the song kept going.

"I'm leaving," Sasuke said. "Good riddance." He opened the door and then slammed it shut.

"Well, then," Naruto said into the microphone. "Do you two lovely ladies want to join in me a trio?"

Scoffing, they, too also left, leaving Naruto to sing softly, _"I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me…"_

.

.

.

Realizing that the only way he could see Sakura and check up on how she was doing was to go over there and visit her himself. Unfortunately, since he wasn't on the best terms with her parents, he couldn't just walk into her front door and make himself at home.

There had to be another way.

Sasuke saw that the house was dark except for one light, which he knew was Sakura's room. However, it was two stories high, and there was no ladder or tree available for him to climb, and if he shouted, the rest of her family and the neighbors would hear.

"What's the romantic crap that every girl wants their Prince Charming to do?" he muttered to himself. Immediately, for some reason, his head remembered that stupid Taylor Swift song that Sakura sang nonstop about a love story and Romeo throwing pebbles…

His eyes darted to a rather large rock and Sasuke bit his lip. It was worth a shot, he thought, and he wasn't strong enough to break anything.

So he lifted up the rock (which wasn't as heavy as he expected it to be) and threw it against Sakura's window, hoping it would bounce back onto the ground.

It didn't.

Shards of glass flew everywhere, mostly inside her room. She gave a shriek, obviously surprised, and Sasuke quickly duck under the Harunos' garden to see if anyone was going to come out.

Thankfully, nobody did.

Sakura peered her head out the window and Sasuke called out her name as quietly as he could without waking anybody up.

"Sakura," he said.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing?" she said in a harsh whisper. "My parents will kill us both if they find out you're here! Plus, they're going to kill me for the window!"

"Come down," he said. "I'll catch you."

"I'm grounded!"

Sasuke smirked. "That's never stopped you before."

He had a point, she thought.

"Okay," she said. Sasuke held out his arms, waiting for her to jump out so that they could spend some time together, but instead of Sakura falling into his arms, he _oofed! _as the rock was thrown back to him.

"Sorry," she said. "I meant to throw it next to you. My aim's not very good."

Sasuke felt his lungs collapse and rolled the rock over so that he could breathe. He saw Sakura getting out of the window, ready to jump.

"I'll catch you," he promised. "Don't be scared."

"From the way you caught the rock, I'm a little frightened," she teased. He rolled his eyes and she fell into his arms almost gracefully.

"I told you," he said, placing her onto her feet.

Then, he kissed her, remembering how smooth and soft her skin was and how good her lips tasted.

"I missed you," she said softly, holding Sasuke close to her. "And despite everything, it was kind of romantic that you threw the rock at my window to get my attention."

"I was inspired," Sasuke said. "From your stupid Love Story song."

Sakura paused. "Oh! Oh, no. I thought you were talking about Check Yes, Juliet. I think that's the one I was singing. The one about the guy that'll keep throwing rocks at the girl's window."

Sasuke frowned. "It's all the same thing."

"It is."

Sakura laid her head on Sasuke's chest. "I love you," she confessed. "And I missed you lots."

"I missed you, too."

Sakura lifted up her eyes to meet his. "And…?" she teased.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and kissed her. "I've done enough romantic stuff for tonight. Now let's go before we get caught again."

He took her hand and they ran, both of them laughing.

* * *

**I actually love the song Love Story and Check Yes, Juliet...haha.**

**REVIEW!**


	16. Secrets

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o16: Sasuke hid secrets from Sakura so that she wouldn't know how messed up he actually was. But Sakura has some secrets of hers that she never wanted Sasuke to know...

* * *

**.o16.  
**_Secrets_

There were tons of things that Sasuke hid from Sakura, despite her being his girlfriend. There were things in his past that he didn't want to reveal to her in fear that she would leave him like everybody else, and there were also things that he'd done that he was ashamed of and never wanted to bring up because he felt that Sakura would have the wrong impression of him after he had worked so hard to be the man she loved and—

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, her fingers clenching Sasuke's shoulder. He tensed up in surprise, but loosened up his body when he felt her lips nibble at his neck. "What's wrong? You look stressed out."

Although Sasuke didn't want to do this, he pushed Sakura's hand away. "I'm fine," he said, his voice gruff. "I just need some alone time right now."

Sakura knew that Sasuke had never behaved like this to her before, and sat next to him on their bed. "There's something bothering you," she said. "Tell me what it is."

He turned his head so that he didn't have to face her. "It's nothing, Sakura. Go away."

Her dainty fingers gripped his forearm and he felt pain as her nails dug deep into his skin. "Not until you tell me what's bothering you."

For some reason, Sasuke felt anger overcome him. He pushed her down onto the bed and straddled her, his hands tight on her wrists. Sakura lied there under him, her eyes worried for the briefest second, and then empty. Sasuke would never rape her, no matter how angry he was.

"You want to know?" he asked, anger seeping through his teeth. "_You're _bothering me. I need you to leave me alone."

Sasuke never meant to be so harsh with her, but he couldn't contain his feelings right now. Although he expected Sakura to cry and push him away, she broke free from his grasp and slapped him. Hard.

"This isn't the Sasuke I love," she said, lowering her voice. "What have you done with him?"

Realizing how violent he had been with her, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry," he mumbled, burying his face in his hands. He refused to let her see how ashamed of himself he was. Sasuke was prepared to hear Sakura walk away from him out the door, but he felt the bed creak and her hand rubbing his back.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, softening her tone.

Sasuke turned to her, holding her hands tight in his. "Promise me you won't leave me if I tell you the truth."

She stroked his cheek. "I love you too much to let you go."

Sasuke sighed. "When I was younger—this was before we met each other—I got involved in some pretty bad things. I whored myself out. I did lots of illegal substances. And during that time, I was with someone. She and I…we fooled around a bit. It was nothing serious. But she was in love with me, and all I wanted was to just have a good time. I was a horny teenager then who didn't know any better."

He paused, watching Sakura's expression. She was stoic.

"One time, while we were doped up on cocaine, we fucked. I didn't use a condom, and everything—everything just went downhill from there. She told me she was late. I didn't call her back or anything. I just left her there by herself with a child whose mother was a drug addict."

Sasuke groaned in pain. "And then, during the fourth month of her pregnancy, she found me on the street and her stomach was flat. There was no bump at all. She told me that she tried to give herself an abortion and succeeded. And immediately, all this guilt came over me and I felt awful that I had deserted her and the baby because I just wanted to stick my dick in something. I never saw her again after that, and promised myself that I'd be clean and never do anything like that again. And here I am, with you." He reached out to touch her cheek. "And I've never been happier."

Honestly, Sakura didn't know how to react. What Sasuke had told her was mind-boggling, and she couldn't absorb all the information at once. But she still loved him, and would never desert him in his time of need.

"I have a secret I'd like to share with you, too," she said, removing his hand. "If you would," she nodded as his other hand rested on her thigh.

Sasuke removed his hands and Sakura breathed heavily.

"I tried to kill myself."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "When?"

"Multiple times. I did everything. I hated my life. I hated my family. I hated everything that was going on around me and I thought that the best way to deal with the pain was to end it all. I was in a spiraling vortex of depression with no way to get out. I tried pills, cutting myself, hanging myself, even a gun in my mouth, but something would always stop me. I didn't know if I was afraid of death, but there was always an obstacle that prevented me from carrying it out."

Sasuke's eyes darted to her wrists, and she noticed. Holding her arms out, she took his finger and traced over small bumps of skin.

"They're faded," she said. "But you can kind of tell if you look really closely."

He didn't care that her body was marred by scars. "I still love you," he said. She gave him a sad smile.

"When…when was the last time you tried to do it?" Sasuke asked cautiously.

Sakura gulped. "The day I met you."

Sasuke was speechless, and Sakura continued.

"I was going to jump in front of the road when I saw you on the sidewalk. I thought to myself, _He must be an angel_. And then you smirked at me. And suddenly, I didn't want to die anymore. I wanted to live. I wanted to know what it was like to be with you. So I didn't do it."

"I'm far from an angel, Sakura."

"I am, too."

Immediately, Sasuke took her into his arms and held her tight. "I'm sorry you felt that way," he murmured into her hair.

"Please let go of your guilt," Sakura begged, tears falling down onto Sasuke's shoulders. "Don't bottle anything up anymore."

They engaged in small kisses which then escalated to frenzied, passionate ones. Sakura felt her back hit the mattress again, and Sasuke placed his hands on her stomach, his fingers trailing up her shirt to the curves of her breasts.

"Do you want this?" he asked, his knee parting her thighs.

"More than anything."

"As a virgin," he said, his fingers tugging at her pants while reaching for his dresser where he kept unused condoms. "This may hurt."

"I know what pain feels like," she breathed, tugging at his hair. "And I was used to it. I think I can handle you."

She felt him enter her, and as expected, she felt little pain. Sasuke was surprised when she didn't cry out or dig her nails into his skin, and he began to move slowly, watching her face for any sort of hurt.

"You don't have to be so gentle," she said. "You can go faster."

He sped up his pace, Sakura moaning softly under him as she got accustomed to his frantic movements. Sweat built up on their bodies.

"I love you," she said. "I'd never leave you."

That set him off. He exploded into the rubber, slowly leaving Sakura's warmth. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and Sasuke was thankful that she hadn't bled at all.

Sasuke pulled her to him and she sat on his lap. "No more secrets," she begged as his lips met hers.

"I've got nothing else to hide from you," he said.

* * *

**Man this was fucked up.**

**Inspired by Gabriel's Inferno, which is sooooooooooo amazinggg**

**edit: Realized that I posted the same chapter twice. Sorry about that! Thanks to my reviewers who caught that, you guys rock ;)**


	17. Inventions

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o17: Sakura decides that Sasuke's name is boring. She wants to spice it up by giving him some new pet names.

* * *

**.o17.  
**_Inventions_

Despite the fact that they had been together for over a year now, Sakura had nothing else to call Sasuke except just "Sasuke."

Which, to her, was plain boring.

"Sasu-cakes!" she squealed s she pressed her breasts behind his back. He was working on a report on his laptop and was distracted as is without Sakura.

"What is it?" he asked, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "And don't call me 'Sasu-cakes' again. It fits the ear wrong."

Sakura pouted, sitting comfortably in his lap. Unfortunately, Sasuke couldn't say that _he _felt comfortable when Sakura was right in front of him, moving her thighs like…_oh_.

"Then what about Sasgay?"

"Don't you dare," he took her hand in his own. "You, of all people, should know that I'm not gay."

Sakura pursed her lips, and Sasuke loved how absolutely—dare he say it?—_adorable _she looked. He smirked and leaned up to kiss her sweetly, all his love pouring into that single kiss.

"Duckie butt," she murmured, smiling against his mouth. "I like that because you have a duckie's ass hair."

"Never use those three words in the same sentence again," Sasuke growled as he pulled apart from the kiss, knowing that only Sakura could ruin a good moment that she had started herself.

"What? I like that?"

"No. You know exactly what I meant."

"Okay, Itachi's less hot brother."

Sasuke snarled. "Now you're just trying to be ridiculous." He put Sakura back on her feet. "Leave me alone for a while. I've got work to do."

"I have work to do too! I've got to make some nicknames up for you."

Putting his glasses back on and massaging his forehead with his fingers, he groaned. "Real work. Run along, Sakura."

.

.

.

Pad and pen, Sakura sat on the couch thinking of various names to call Sasuke. Inventing new nicknames was harder than she thought, and Sakura's head felt dizzy from all the thinking she had to do.

"I've never had to think this hard," she whined. "Not even during my final exams."

She looked down at all the names she had come up with so far.

The pad was empty.

"Um…emo-boy? No, that's just lame. Tomato sauce? That could work. After all, he does love tomatoes, and…no, but he's not red. Hm." Sakura tapped the pen against her chin, leaving stray ink marks.

"How about 'asshole boyfriend who likes to put his work in front of his girlfriend'? That might work. Let me right that down before I forget." As she was writing, she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her body and she jumped. Warm breath made the hair on her neck stand up, and she felt a smirking pair of lips on her skin.

"And who is this asshole boyfriend of yours that puts his work in front of his beautiful girlfriend?" Sasuke asked huskily, his tongue licking the outer edge of her ear.

"Emo-chiha!" Sakura said. "Stop it!"

She felt his tongue stop moving, and his arms let go of her. "Emo-chiha? Is that really the best you can do?"

Sakura huffed. "Well, why don't you tell me what to call you?"

"Just Sasuke." He leaned in to embrace her again, but she held up a hand.

"That's boring. I want something interesting. I want to invent a new pet name for you."

Sakura saw Sasuke's face flare up with an emotion she couldn't describe. He took her into his arms and kissed her hard, and Sakura realized how much he had been waiting for her.

"I've given you a hard time," she said, realizing how much annoyance she had probably caused him today. "So let me make it up to you." She pushed him down onto the sofa and straddled him, grabbing his thick wrists and pinning them over his head.

"Don't you dare move," she warned, and Sasuke smirked, enjoying the feisty new Sakura. She hiked up his shirt to his neck, her lips licking his solid abdomen before she took his pants' zipper in her teeth and slid it down.

Releasing his large bulge from the restrained cotton fabric of his boxers, she took his whole length into her mouth and stroked it with her hand, speeding up her pace once she saw Sasuke's pained expression.

"Fuck," he muttered, watching how Sakura took pleasure in teasing him. "Sakura, make me cum."

And suddenly, he was in the back of her throat. But before he could shoot out, she took her mouth off and stripped off her clothing from the waist down.

"This better be good," he threatened, angry that she hadn't let him cum.

"It will," she said. "Don't you _dare _move your hands."

Sakura slid onto him easily, fitting into him like a glove. He clenched around her, and in efforts for him to stay hard, she began to bounce up and down rapidly, clutching her breasts and offering them to him before taking them away when he tried to reach for them.

"Sakura," he groaned in half-pain, half-pleasure. "Let me at least touch you."

"No. You've been a very bad boy, and you should be punished for ignoring your girlfriend." Sakura pinched her nipples, crying out when they perked up under her fingers, and Sasuke groaned, letting himself spill all over her as he laid back onto the cushions, exhausted and sexually frustrated.

Sakura, who took herself off Sasuke and rested her head against his chest, smiled. She kissed his forehead and whispered into his ear.

"I've invented the perfect name for you."

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "What?"

She smirked, her hand reaching down to squeeze his cock. "Sas-_uke_." She rubbed it sensually, feeling him harden under her. "And I'm the dom in this relationship."

* * *

**I actually had to look up nicknames for Sasuke and got some HILARIOUS ones that didn't fit for this story, but I'd still like to share them with you:**

**One Man Power Trip  
Forgets to Wear a Straw Bow  
**

**And the rest were pretty bitter considering that the majority of people hate Sasuke.**

**REVIEW GUYS!**


	18. Mirror

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o18: Sakura sees everything she hates in her reflection. Sasuke loves her anyway.

* * *

**.o18.  
**_Mirror_

Sakura hated looking into the mirror. Every time she saw her reflection, she could only see the imperfections that faced her.

There were flaws in her skin, her breasts were too small, her waist wasn't as thin as she'd like, and her thighs were fat and ugly and _everything was wrong_.

And each time she tried to pull herself away, the fact that her reflection was standing there mirroring her, doing everything that was doing, made her even angrier. Sakura wanted to punch that stupid little expression off her face and live her life with Sasuke telling her how beautiful she was, but thanks to the piece of fucking glass nailed onto the wall, she couldn't do that.

She hated her physical appearance. But the worst part of it was her hair.

Her stupid, fucking, short pink hair.

She hated how it would brush her chin every time she walked. And she hated that she couldn't do anything fun with it like the other girls could: Ino could put hers into a ponytail, or a bun, or make a long fishtail braid. Hinata could curl it and it would bounce beautifully against her back, and even TenTen had enough to put them in tight Chinese buns.

All Sakura could do was put in a hairclip or a headband and hope for the best.

"It's not fair," she said to herself, trying to imagine her reflection as the woman Sasuke wanted her to be. She saw herself with porcelain skin, large, heavy breasts, a thin waist, a large gap between her thighs, and the long, flowing, waist-length hair.

Sakura felt tears come to her eyes as the image of what she wanted to be seemed to _laugh _at her, ridiculing her for being everything that she wasn't.

"You'll never be his ideal woman," it said. "He may want you now, but when your tits get saggy and your stomach gets big, he'll run off looking for another woman: one that's sexier and more suitable for somebody like him."

"_Shut up_," Sakura cried, trying to block out the voices in her head. She closed her eyes tightly, but the images of her reflection were imprinted in her brain, and the sounds kept repeating themselves.

"Will he leave you for TenTen? Perhaps, but she's too buff for him. Maybe Hinata. Then again, she's too shy to be sexually pleasing. Or Ino?"

Sakura opened her eyes.

"Think about it. She's got the body, the personality, the sex appeal, and best of all," the reflection said, trailing its voice off. "She's got that _long, flaxen hair _that Sasuke just wants to wrap his fingers around."

That had finally set Sakura off. She began to punch the mirror repeatedly, watching as the person whom she could have been laughed wildly, the reflection distorted with every piece of broken glass that cracked. Soon, after the mirror was covered in blood (as were her knuckles), Sakura slid to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Sakura? Are you alright? I thought I heard—_shit_, Sakura, what happened?" Sasuke asked, watching his girlfriend tear up with her hand covered in blood. He immediately reached for a towel and wrapped it around her.

"What did you do to yourself?" he asked, piecing together the puzzle.

"Please don't leave me," she cried. "I don't want to see you leave me for TenTen, or Hinata, or Ino. I promise that I'll make you happy. Just don't go to them!"

Sasuke hugged Sakura close to him, his heart pained as he heard her sorrowful cries. "I'd never leave you," he said. "Why are you thinking about that?"

"I'm not the girls that they are. They're beautiful. They're sweet. And they're a better fit for you than me. Plus, they've all got long hair." With her good hand, she fiddled with the ends of her hair. "You've always told me that you liked long hair."

"Sakura." He led her to the other side of the mirror. The part that hadn't been damaged.

Sakura immediately shut her eyes, fearing what would she would see if she opened them.

"Look," he said. "Tell me what you see."

Opening her eyes, Sakura saw an unattractive girl next to a handsome man who had his arms wrapped around her waist comfortably.

"I see ugliness."

Sasuke didn't say anything. He tucked a lock of stray hair behind her ear and kissed her shoulder.

"That's what you may see. But what I see is a beautiful girl: one that I'm proud to hold like this and kiss whenever I want to kiss." He played with the ends of her hair. "And I love your short hair. I can run my hands through it like this," he demonstrated. "Without getting my fingers all tangled up. There are simply so many other things about you _and _your hair that I love."

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, feeling tears come to her eyes. "You make me feel beautiful."

"You are." He said. "And I love you no matter what you look like."

Sakura saw her own reflection in the mirror this time. No longer was it a laughing parody of what could have been, nor was it the girl whose imperfections were laid out for everybody to see, but it was a girl who was beautiful because she was loved.

"You're perfect just the way you are."

Sakura closed her eyes and choked a smile. A tear ran down her cheek.

Sasuke was playing with her hair.

* * *

**effing OOC Sasuke cpaisudpituawpoeitu.  
**

**But she's always beautiful to him ;)**


	19. Between You and Me

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o19: It's secret between the two, but Sakura tells Sasuke she's in love with him.

* * *

**.o19.  
**_Between You and Me_

They had been hanging out for an extended period of time after school. Sasuke, however, had no choice: he would have rather been playing basketball with his friends, but as a tutor, he had to stay and help Sakura every day with her math homework or else she'd flunk out, and he wouldn't be able to earn his tutoring credits for school.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said, putting down her pencil. "I still don't understand this."

Sasuke sighed. He had already explained the material _three different times_, and she still hadn't seemed to understand _any _of them.

"You know what?" he asked, closing the textbooks. "Why don't we stop for today?"

Sakura could tell that he was obviously frustrated from her lack of understanding, and she felt guilty that she had made him so angry.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

He glared at her. "Don't be sorry. I'd rather you not understand the information than fake it and not know what to do."

"Well…what are we going to do for the next hour?" Sakura asked. The tutoring schedule was for two hours, and neither of them could leave until the session had been up.

"You do your work, and I'll do mine. Afterwards, we'll go home, and try again on Thursday," Sasuke said, opening up his own textbooks and underlining important key points in blue.

"Um," Sakura began. She could see Sasuke freeze and frown, and she immediately wished she could recant her statement. "Can you help me with the stuff that I'm not sure about?"

Sasuke sighed. "Sure. I guess that counts as tutoring, still. Just give me a poke or something when you need me to look over a problem. Just don't do it too often, though. You won't always have me to rely on."

"Yes, sir," Sakura said. She decided to let Sasuke have some personal time, so she began on her English homework, reading over the sentences with ease.

If only she were a math person and not a language person…Sasuke would probably have liked her so much better.

Holding the book in her hands, Sakura peeked over the top to see Sasuke working diligently, erasing furiously and rewriting his notes in perfect script. She tried to suppress a smile as Sasuke grew frustrated at his homework, noting how absolutely cute he was when he was pissed off (although not at her).

"Is that English?" she asked, trying not to feel too nosy.

"Hn."

"…I could help you with that, if you'd like."

Sasuke stared at her almost incredulously. "You want to help me with my homework?"

"Sure. I'm pretty good at English, although I don't mean to brag. Could I take a look at it?"

Sasuke pushed the book over so that Sakura could see it well, and she noted the sentences he had highlighted.

"So what part do you not understand? I'll try to clarify it better for you."

"This," he said. "These idioms. English is very difficult because it's never constant. There are always rules that can be broken."

"Yeah. But there are also some that will always stay the same. For example. Right here, you have _either_…_or_. The opposite of that would be _neither…nor_. Like this: Sakura is neither smart nor intelligent. Showing that me, Sakura, isn't smart and isn't intelligent."

Sasuke frowned, realizing that she was putting herself down because of him. "You're not stupid."

"It was an example," Sakura said, trying to cover up for herself. "So, does that kind of make sense?"

"Yes. It clears things up." He took the textbook back. "Thanks."

"Of course."

They continued to work in silence until Sakura noticed that their time was up. She began to pack her things and said to Sasuke, "Thursday?"

"Hn." He nodded at her and stored his things in his bag. "Thursday."

.

.

.

These tutoring sessions went on for weeks. Sasuke helped Sakura with her math, which she steadily improved, and Sakura taught Sasuke English, to which he became more and more proficient in. While on the street, he could even give a foreigner directions to the nearest train station in English.

"You're doing well," Sakura said as he politely held a conversation with her. "I'm really glad."

He smirked at her. "You're improving your math well, too. Now here, let's try this problem."

The pencil dropped to the floor, and both Sasuke and Sakura leaned down to get it. Sasuke's hand found itself on top of Sakura's, and she blushed.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry."

"No," he replied. "My fault."

Blushing, Sakura took the pencil back and began to write out the steps to the problem. "It's like this, right?"

"Yes. You're doing well."

Sakura stopped writing for a second and looked at Sasuke, her cheeks flushed. She gave a shy smile and said, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Is it urgent?" he asked. "Because we should really finish the session…"

"It's urgent." She leaned in closer to Sasuke. "Um, between you and me…and this is confidential: it's only for us two to hear."

"Hn."

Her lips were at his ear. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Sasuke froze, obviously not expecting that response. Sakura quickly pulled back and continued writing the steps down to the problem, while Sasuke was left stuck in confusion.

He had definitely had some different thoughts about Sakura since he first met her and right now. At first, he assumed that she was just a stupid girl who couldn't do math for shit and was dumber than ancient cavemen. Now, he realized, he was wrong, and she was definitely talented in other aspects that didn't involve numbers or equations.

Not only that, she took his harshness well and didn't even lose her temper when he got angry at _her_. Immediately, guilt overcame him, and he felt sorry that he treated her poorly in the beginning.

Now there was the problem of her confession. He thought that she might have had something for him, considering the way she looked into his eyes with that schoolgirl smile, but he never thought it was serious. But knowing Sakura, she didn't take those things lightly, and he didn't know what to do.

"Is this right?" she asked, pointing to her proof.

His eyes skimmed over the problem, not actually checking to see if she was right.

"Yeah," he said. "Good job." He stared at his watch. "I think we should end for today."

"What?" she asked. "Why? There's still twenty more minutes."

"We need to relax."

Sakura stopped him. "If this is about making you uncomfortable with what I just said, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You're sorry too much. It's not good." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "See you on Tuesday, Sakura."

He left her in the tutoring room as he felt her eyes stare at him. He didn't want to leave like this, but he didn't know how to face her.

.

.

.

From that Thursday evening to Tuesday afternoon, thoughts of Sakura filled his head. It probably wasn't healthy, and he didn't know why he was dreaming of her so often, but her pink hair and her flushed cheeks and her accented English made him want to take her hand in his own and hold it.

"Hey!" she said cheerily as she saw him walk into the tutoring room. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine." He took out his books. "Let me see your math homework."

She handed him the graded paper and his eyes widened slightly at the big 100 on the top.

"Good job," he said, handing the paper back. "You've really improved a lot."

She smiled. "Well, I couldn't have done it without your help."

Sasuke felt his stomach flutter a little bit when he saw her sweet smile, and he immediately turned his gaze. He was nervous; not only because she was giving him that sweet look but also because he was planning something big…

"Could you look over my English for me and see if I it right?" he asked. Sasuke handed the paper to Sakura, who looked over it.

"It all looks right, but…what's that on the bottom?" She squinted her eyes to see it better.

_I think I am too_.

Sasuke awaited her reaction, but she was still not understanding him fully.

"What does this mean?" she asked. "Is it part of the sentence? You think you are what?"

Obviously, she wasn't catching on.

He took her hand in his own and squeezed it, locking his fingers with hers while his other hand thumbed the pad of her cheek.

"Do you understand now?" he asked in English.

Sakura turned red under him. "Oh!"

He smirked before his lips touched the corner of her mouth.

"But you can't tell anyone," he said. "That's just between you and me."

* * *

**Don't judge a book by its cover!**

**Also, I will be away on vacation from this Sunday (21st) to Saturday (27th), so no updates until then. Sorry about that. Thanks for reviewing and following. You're awesome!**


	20. Paradise

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o20: Whether they're happy, sad, or angry, being with each other feels like paradise.

* * *

**.o20.  
**_Paradise_

I hadn't expected her to run out of the room crying. I just told her that I wanted some time alone, and never meant for her to take it the wrong way.

But alas, women are women: unpredictable. So here I was, just trying to tell Sakura that I just wanted to have some time for Sasuke—_just _Sasuke—and she bursts into tears and tells me that I don't love her or something? I'm not sure. First she was blabbing about me not loving her anymore, and then it was about her body image and how I was tired of her, next was the "are you cheating on me?" speech, and finally it was the _MAYBE WE NEED TO SEE OTHER PEOPLE _rant.

Unfortunately, she barged out before I could explain anything to her. Now I'm here, sitting outside the bathroom door while politely knocking, asking if I can come in and talk to her. All I can hear is the sound of running shower water to cover up her tears—which honestly makes me feel terrible—and her "fuck yous" and "go off to your other whore."

Which left me no other choice.

I stood up, rolled up my sleeves, and braced my body for several bruises to come. I rammed my torso against the door, surprised that it took such little effort, and fell down onto the ground along with the door.

"I said to go away," she yelled, drawing out the shower curtain. "I don't want to see you right now."

"…If you'll just let me explain and stop being a little brat—"

That apparently did it for her. She ripped open the curtains and I could see that she was soaked in water, from her hair down to her clothes, which formed a little puddle of water underneath her.

"Fine," she said.

I gulped. When I saw her, tired and upset yet drenched in water, I felt my collar tighten and my stomach clench. "Aa," I mumbled as my finger tried to loosen the collar, but I couldn't find the words to say what I wanted to say.

"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to say something or what?"

Yes, I would. I'd make a statement.

"Hey, what are you—no, you can't come in here! This is just my place! Sasuke-kun, what are you—what?!"

I lifted her into my arms and held her firm, wet bottom. Sakura, afraid she would slip, held onto me tightly.

"You know that I'm still angry at you," she muttered.

I smirked. "Mm?" My lips reached up to kiss her jaw, and slowly made its way up to her ear. I nibbled on her earlobe. "I don't understand."

"You know exactly why—_oh_." My mouth was back on her neck, on that one part that she loved where I could suck on the skin and feel her heart throb faintly.

The water was pouring heavily on my nice polo shirt, but I didn't care too much. I set her down for the briefest of seconds to take it off and toss it on the sink, and looked her up and down, biting my lip and cursing that she had worn a dark T-shirt today.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, her voice laced with a teasing tone. I knew that she had forgotten about being angry at me, and we'd both use this time to relieve some stress.

"I think you know," I said breathlessly, watching as her fingers played with the hem of her shirt, bringing it up ever so slightly so that I could barely see the curve of her breasts.

I clenched my hands. "Fuck," I grumbled, and her eyes darted to my pants, to which she smirked.

"Don't wash my hair or anything," she warned me. "I might slap you."

"Why would I wash your—" her mouth was on my zipper. Holy shit.

And before I knew it, she took me into her mouth. She was hot and sweet, and I couldn't hold my groans of pleasure in. My hands played with her soft, wet hair, and I stroked her face as best I could while she was pleasuring me.

She took me out of her mouth and looked up at me with playful eyes, no longer covered with tears. "Let yourself go," she said, before her hand started to furiously stroke me up and down.

I did.

Her T-shirt wasn't dark anymore.

.

.

.

"I'm sorry for being such a kid today," Sakura said, snuggling up against me in a new, see-through tee. "I just overreacted. I understand that guys need some time to go play video games or masturbate or something, and I get it now. So, if you'd like, you can, uh, have some alone time right now…" she trailed off.

I put my arm around her and pressed my lips against her cheek. "Not now. I'd rather spend time with you, today. And I accept your lame apology."

She hit my arm. "Just promise me that you won't get tired of me."

"With the way you use your mouth? Never."

She hit me again.

I smirked. "Of course I won't." I leaned over and put my hand on her stomach, gently, as if she were carrying my child. "No matter where we are—whether it's during a fight or in the shower—when I'm with you, I always feel like I'm in paradise." I took her face in my free hand. "I love you."

Shit, I shouldn't have said that. Sakura burst into tears again, ran out of my arms, and into another room, slamming the door. I'm not sure what got her so emotional, but when she came out, she kissed me and promised me several things that weren't for the chaste.

"I wanna make every day a paradise for us," she said. "So let's go. It's _us _time."

* * *

**Got back from vacation today! Lots of fun.**

**Hope you review and fave on Tumblr.**

**This one was lame though bleh**


	21. Achilles's Heel

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o21: He's handled all sorts of things: mobs, enemies, the yakuza...but the only thing that can really break him down is Sakura.

* * *

**.o21.  
**_Achilles's Heel_

"Please don't," she begged as he kissed her neck feverishly. "You're hurting me."

Sasuke pulled back to look at his beloved under him, her hair mussed around his pillows and her arms at her raised over her head, somewhat relaxed. Her green eyes were nervous and shy, and despite the fact that her dress straps were down at her shoulders and her bra was visible, Sasuke couldn't take her when she obviously was uncomfortable.

"Shit," he cursed, removing himself from her. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Her makeup was smeared slightly and she sat up, rearranging her clothes so that they fit right.

"Sakura, please," Sasuke said. "Don't leave me."

"I wasn't going to," she replied, daintily stepping off the bed. "I just don't want to—" her eyes darted over to his mattress. "Not today."

Sasuke inwardly cursed himself for his hormones trying to push her into something she didn't want, and didn't know how to feel about the situation.

"Will you stay here tonight?" he asked. He looked out the window and saw that it was dark out: too dark for her to be going home at this time of night.

"If it's okay," she asked. "I don't want to be a burden."

Sasuke walked over to her and took her into his arms. "Of course it's not."

Sakura breathed in the scent from the hardened leather he wore and fingered a fresh scar on his neck.

"Where'd this guy come from?" she asked softly.

Sasuke closed his eyes and rested his cheek against her hair. "A fight."

She pulled apart from him and looked into his dark, sad eyes.

"You promised me you would stop the fights and the yakuza business," she said sternly, obviously angry that he had gone against his promises.

Sasuke took her hand in his and kissed her fingers, his lips resting on the fourth finger where a ring should have been. "I'm trying to stop, love," he whispered, his mouth tickling her skin. "But it's a hard life. I've been involved in some bad things. I have enemies, Sakura. I have the mob after me. The yakuza want to slit my throat and hang my head as a warning sign to other gangs. But I'll stop." He kissed her again. "Just for you."

He heard Sakura breathe deeply and wrap her arms around him, her head resting against his hard torso. "It hurts me whenever you come home with all these fresh wounds, and I always wonder, '_Will he come back tonight? Dear Kami, he's not home yet. I hope nothing's happened to him. What will I do if—' _and I just can't bear to think of it anymore."

Looking at her worried face with the tears running down and realizing the pain he had brought her, Sasuke lifted her up into his arms and kissed her firmly, all his love pouring through the kiss.

"Shit, Sakura," he muttered. "I can handle angry sons of bitches. I can fight back against the Japanese mafia. And I can kick every person's ass that gets in your way. But the moment you cry—the moment you let yourself go with me…that's my weakness. Fuck, Sakura, you're my Achilles's Heel. The second I find you in pain is the second that I'm vulnerable to everything." He kissed her neck. "I wonder how just one person can do this to me."

Sakura felt more tears rush down her cheeks and Sasuke kissed them away gently, with such tenderness that it made her cry even more.

"Hold me," she said. "I want to feel your arms around me."

"I thought you didn't want to—" he stopped himself, realizing she meant it in the most innocent way possible. He almost smacked himself for realizing how corrupted he was for her, and he felt her grip his forearms firmly with her small hands.

"It's okay," she said. "We can just lie there together."

"Come here." He led her back to the bed where he had nearly made love to her minutes before, and wrapped his thin blanket over them. Sasuke drew her close, his hand on the back of her head and his other around her waist. Sakura inhaled the scent of his roughhousing and smiled, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"I love you," she whispered, her eyes closed. "You're my everything."

Sasuke nearly froze when he heard her say that. He didn't know how to respond: he obviously loved her back; that much was true. But this was _Sakura_, his weakness; his chink in his armor.

Her bare leg wrapped around his hip, and he tried his best to hide his excitement. But she hadn't noticed, or maybe she was doing a good job at not drawing attention to it. Removing the hand from her waist, he fingered the hard spot right behind her foot and pinched it.

"What's your Achilles's heel?" he asked softly, so as to soothe her.

"Knowing that one day, you might not come home."

She didn't say anything after that, and she removed her leg from his hip. Sasuke held her tight to him, staring out the window into the night sky illuminated by the moon and stars. He lifted up his shirt to feel the hardened scars against his chest and looked over to see Sakura sleeping peacefully on his shoulder.

"No more," he promised. "Just for you."

* * *

**I wanted to add a sweet lemon but wanted to end this because I've got a lot to catch up on.**

**GRRRRPSOIDUTPOIWUET**

**I do the cliche bad boy Sasuke good girl Sakura too much, but I LOVE IT GUYS I LOVE IT**


	22. Numb

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o22: All she can feel is numbness when she sees Sasuke once more.

* * *

**.o22.  
**_Numb_

I can't feel anything right now.

Kami, _I can't feel anything right now_.

I'd know that face anywhere. My whole body is numb, and my grip on Sai's collar has loosened. He falls to the ground, while the wind is blowing my hair into my face, making it harder for me to see the darkened silhouette of the man in front of me.

But I know. I know that it's him.

And he's still as beautiful as he was three years ago.

His dark, piercing eyes are gazing at me, and the look he has on his face is pure emptiness. There's nothing in them. No emotion at all.

_This isn't the Sasuke that I knew_.

My mouth tries to form some words, but all that can come out is his name.

"Sas—uke-kun," I say slowly, not believing that he's actually here.

The corner of his mouth lifts the slightest in a small smirk, and nobody except for me would be able to notice that. He jumps down with great speed and has his arm around Naruto, but his eyes are staring straight at me, his gaze plunging into me like a thousand katanas.

I'm still unable to move.

He whispers something to Naruto that makes Naruto freeze, but I'm still frozen under Sasuke's perpetual gaze.

And then, he forms a sound with his mouth.

_Sa_

_Ku_

_Ra._

It's only for the slightest second, but I can tell what he's saying. He said my name.

I want to go over to him and am torn between hugging him or slitting his throat. I know that I have to protect Konoha and my team, but at the same time, I'm just seen the love of my life in front of me once more.

I want to move my feet, but I can't. I'm stuck to the ground. Sasuke knows this; he's smirking. I'm sure that he thinks I'm still weak, so I'm determined to prove him wrong.

Erasing all feelings I have for him at the moment, I gather the strength to move forward, my hand ready to attack him with a sharp punch, but Kakashi stops me at the last second.

Sasuke smirks at me. It's a teasing, taunting smirk, but not a degrading smirk. He knows that he can make me feel this way. He _knows _that I'm numb under him.

Kami, _why can't I move?_

* * *

**LOL THIS IS SO SHORT SINCE I'M NOT GOOD WITH LIKE CANON AND STUFF**


	23. Detours

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o23: There were detours in the relationship, but now they're back to meet each other on the right path again.

* * *

**.o23.  
**_Detours_

They both agreed that maybe it was best for them to take a break in the relationship. Both of them had been stressed out for quite some time, and, like mature adults, they agreed on a compromise.

"We should take a break," Sasuke said.

"See other people," Sakura added.

They thought they were handling the situation well for their age unlike the other teenagers who had the messy breakups. But they decided to remain distant friends, although neither of them really believed in friendship after a romantic relationship.

During school, they still saw each other occasionally in the hallways, and a "hi-bye" was issued, but there was no more loitering at the lockers, or waiting after his class was finished, or the late night study sessions in the library where they would build book forts instead of studying…

And of course, there were fewer—if any—texts that went back and forth between the two ever since their breakup.

Rather than deciding to mope about it, Sakura thought that she would start to see other people. After all, Sasuke said it was okay, and maybe she needed a chance to experience what someone else would be like.

One week later, as she was walking down the hallways with her new "boyfriend," she saw Sasuke with another female acquaintance who was too close for her liking.

Sakura shook her head.

It was okay for him to be with another girl. The two had already settled that fact. But the mere thought of Sasuke treating that girl like he treated her made her heart crunch inside.

"Sak, what's wrong?" her "boyfriend" asked.

Sakura cringed. Sasuke would call her _Sak_.

"Nothing." She took him by his hand and led him into an empty classroom, her hands tight on his shoulders. She didn't want to have to do this, but Sakura felt as if it were necessary.

"Kiss me," she begged.

.

.

.

High school passed. So did the boyfriends and girlfriends.

Unbelievably, Sasuke and Sakura had both gotten into the top school of their choices: Konoha University. Sasuke remembered how Sakura would always talk about what she would do when she got in and be a doctor, and Sakura laughed when she heard Sasuke's goals of becoming a high-class business CEO.

And although the university was bigger—not too much, but still larger than their high school, Sasuke and Sakura managed to see each other frequently. This time, however, they were less distant towards the other.

"Hi," Sakura said, walking up to Sasuke. She noticed that he didn't have a woman on his arm like he had before during high school and the beginning months of school.

"Hey," he added. His eyes darted over her to see if she left a waiting boyfriend or male _acquaintance _behind.

"We haven't talked in a long time," she said. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Not at all."

The two walked down the campus together, making small chat along the way. Sakura felt happy; it was like old times where they would talk together outside and share secrets and little bits of information about themselves.

"So? What's been going on?" she asked.

"Lots of work." He pointed to his business textbooks. "Harder than I imagined."

She sighed. "You're telling me. I haven't had a full night's rest in over three months." Sakura giggled, and Sasuke realized how much he missed that sound. "But it's worth it."

They continued walking down the campus sidewalk until they reached a detour.

"Oh. Construction work."

Sakura gripped Sasuke's hand and noted how familiar it still was to her, despite several years. "Why don't we take another route?"

"I'd like that."

Sakura turned to Sasuke, who stared at her with those loving eyes she had liked for so long before.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"I think we need to stop taking breaks," he said. "There have been enough detours in our relationship, but it's time we get back onto the right road."

Sakura loosened her grip on Sasuke's hand and felt tears come to her eyes.

"You mean it?" she asked, her voice cracking.

He cupped her cheek. "More than anything."

Without warning, Sasuke was tackled by Sakura, whose arms were wrapped around him tightly, and they found themselves on the grass. Sakura was sobbing, and Sasuke put his arms around her, their textbooks scattered all over the ground.

"Shh," he said. "Don't cry, Sak."

She sniffed. "Every time a guy called me that, all I could think of was you."

Sasuke stroked her hair. "And every time a girl held onto me and called me _Sasuke-kun_, only you ran through my head."

"I want you back," she said. "Is that okay?"

He smirked, raising his lips to meet hers.

"That'll be fine."

* * *

**"lol let's see other people. JK THEY'RE NOT AS GOOD AS YOU"**

**yup.**


	24. Outgrown

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o24: Sakura's outgrown her childish antics, but Sasuke hasn't tired of them yet.

* * *

**.o24.  
**_Outgrown_

She was a big girl now. There was no need for the little girl antics that she did when she was younger. No, was a beautiful, young woman, and it was time for her to become an adult.

So when she walked over that familiar bridge to see Naruto and Sasuke engaging in some early morning sparring, she sat back and watched carefully to see how they fought. There were no more "Go, Sasuke-kun!" or "Kick his ass, Sasuke-kun!" but instead, just silence.

After they had finished fighting, she handed them both some water, which they half-drank and half-poured on themselves.

"Sakura-chan, you didn't comment on teme's fighting today. Something wrong?" Naruto asked, throwing the empty bottle on the floor.

Sasuke, too, noticed this different behavior.

Sakura shrugged.

"Didn't want to bother you. It seemed like it could be kind of distracting."

"There are always distractions during fighting! You're just preparing us for them," he said, elbowing her playfully. "No, but seriously. Recently, you've seen different. You don't act the same as you used to. Are you alright or something?" Naruto put his hand on her forehead.

"I'm good."

Sakura felt her bra snap, and she immediately turned red. She hoped that nobody noticed, and that nobody could see how uncomfortable she was, but unfortunately, Sasuke's ears were sharper than a hawk's.

However, he said nothing.

…Although Naruto had some crude things to add.

"Looks like your cheers aren't the only thing you've outgrown!" he teased, his eyes staring at her chest. "But in all seriousness, they look really great."

She slapped him across the face and blushed heavily as she tried to fix it as stealthily as she could, feeling Sasuke's hot gaze on her.

Thankfully, Kakashi came to break the awkwardness.

"So," he said. "You two look like you've had a bit of a row."

"That's an understatement," Sasuke muttered. His eyes were still focused on Sakura, who refused to look at either of the three.

"I'll go get more water. You don't need me, right, sensei?"

She left before Kakashi could say anything, and Sasuke noted that there was something off about Sakura.

"I'll go with her," he mumbled. "I'll be back soon."

.

.

.

Sakura decided that the fresh air would cool her down. Unfortunately, she hadn't expected Sasuke to come up right behind her and grab her wrist harshly.

"Oh!" she said in surprise.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "You've been acting different for a while now."

Sakura blushed.

"Why are you blushing? Is there something—"

"No," she said, pulling apart from him. "Nothing's wrong. Okay?"

"You're different, and I can't say that I like it. You don't cheer me on at fights anymore. You don't call my name in the morning. You give equal attention to _Naruto_, now, for fuck's sake. Obviously, I've done something to hurt you to make you feel this way. If you'll at least tell me what it is, maybe I can fix—"

"It's nothing! I've just outgrown my childish habits, alright?" Sakura huffed. "It's annoying, having me shout your name all the time and cheering you on. Naruto deserves some of that attention too. It's not fair to him _or _me, especially if you're just going to ignore me."

He gripped her forearms. "Your cheering is the reason why I strive to fight even harder. When you call my name each morning, it wakens me up a little more. And when you pay attention to me, I feel like the most valued person in the world." His fingers dug into her skin firmly enough to prove a point. "Maybe I haven't outgrown your 'childish' habits."

"Oh my goodness." Sakura covered her mouth. "Are you saying—"

"Don't make me repeat anything," he said sternly. "Because I won't. Just let me tell you this." He leaned in close to her, his lips at her ear. "You don't have to grow up so quickly."

He pulled apart before Sakura could register what he was saying, and quickly turned to walk back to the training grounds.

"Wait!" she called.

"Hn?"

"What about the water?"

Sasuke smirked. "We don't need it. I'm going to fight Kakashi next. I think you know what to do."

Sakura had no idea what he was talking about until it struck her.

She grinned.

* * *

**I was going to do like "outgrown each other" but I did that in the previous chapter so I was like lol nope**


	25. Locked Up

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o25: Ever since Sai broke her heart, Sakura's kept it locked up. Sasuke wants to be the one to open it up again.

* * *

**.o25.  
**_Locked Up_

"You can't beat yourself up over that one guy," Sasuke said as Sakura turned him down once more. "I know that you've been hurt by him, but are you going to let him control the rest of your life?"

Sakura growled. "You know _nothing _about me, alright? You don't know what I've been through with him. And don't you _ever _talk about him like that again, you got it?" She dug her finger into his chest.

Sasuke decided to push her buttons a little further.

"Why not? If he's everything that you wanted him to be, why isn't he with you? Why isn't he protecting you from guys like me who want to treat you right?"

He could see Sakura start to flare up.

"Do you think he'd mind if I held your hand?"

Sasuke took her hand in his, lacing his fingers between hers.

"Or what about if I held you close to me, as if we were dancing?"

His other hand was around her waist, pulling her close to him, and he couldn't help but notice how well their bodies fit together.

"What do you think would happen if I tried to kiss you?"

Sakura couldn't respond quickly enough, and his lips were on hers. She felt warmth surge through her veins in a way that Sai never made her feel before, and before she could lose herself in Sasuke's arms, she pushed him away and slapped him.

But he smirked.

He _fucking smirked_.

"You're angry," he noted, cupping his swollen cheek. "You're angry because you know I'm right."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn't find the words.

"That guy has broken your heart, and you've kept it locked up until now. Well, Sakura, I'm going to be the one to open that lock."

There it was again. That smirk.

"Good night," he said.

Sakura didn't know what just happened. A flurry of events had just gone down, and she didn't know how to respond to any of them.

It had been a year since Sai left her for her "best friend," and she vowed never to fall in love again. But here came Sasuke, prancing around and saying all these pretty words to her and she just wanted to let herself go again.

But she knew better than that.

.

.

.

Even though Sai had treated her like shit, especially during the remaining times of the relationship, she couldn't bear to throw away all memories of him.

In her drawer, she had a stack of photographs and love letters that were kept hidden by anyone else who tried to snoop. They were locked up.

Just like her heart.

She heard a knock on the door and quickly stuffed the items back.

"Come in," she said.

There came someone—a couple—she didn't want to see. _At all_.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, unable to find her voice. Her legs turned to jelly, and she couldn't stand up.

The fact that Ino was in Sai's arms just made it ten times worse, and Sakura clutched her chest in pain.

"Just wanted to see how my _best friend _was doing. We haven't seen each other in _so long_." Ino gave her a sickly sweet smile before leaning up to kiss Sai playfully, the way Sakura used to do. She felt physically sick when Sai chuckled deeply, his hand cupping her breast and squeezing it.

"I heard that Sasuke has the hots for you. It's a match made in heaven. You see, I spent so long chasing after Sasuke before I realized that he was no good for me. But Sai, on the other hand," Ino purred, her finger trailing from his torso to his crotch. "Sai is _perfect_. You had good taste, Sakura. It's a shame you couldn't please him long enough to keep him."

She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. "I need you to leave," she said weakly.

"Why? We were just getting re-acquainted!" Ino led Sai to Sakura's bed. "If it's alright, we'd like to spend the night here. But perhaps you and _my boyfriend _have already had some fun here, if I recall."

"…Get out," Sakura said softly, unable to find her voice.

"Hm?" Ino taunted, pulling Sai over her and lifting up his shirt. "Sorry?"

Sakura felt tears come to her eyes. "Get out," she said a little bit louder.

Ino was only wearing her bra, now.

"Still can't hear you."

With a voice that she didn't even knew she possessed, Sakura shrieked from the top of her lungs, "_Get out!_"

Tears fell down her cheeks and she collapsed onto the floor as the couple did their best to ignore her. Sakura crawled over to her drawer and threw all the memories of Sai she had at the two.

"I wish you two the best of luck," she choked out. "I hope you'll be as happy _as I am_."

She ran out of her dorm and ignored the passerby's glances until she bumped into someone.

"Shit, Sakura, was that you?" Sasuke asked, his voice full of worry. "Kami, what happened?"

"I need you," she begged, clutching onto his shirt. "I need you to promise me that you'll never leave me, no matter what happens."

"I won't," he said quickly so as to comfort her. "What happened?"

"I don't want to be under his control anymore," she cried. "No more. I want you to break the chains I have on my heart."

"Sakura, you're not talking straight—"

"Please love me," she said. "I just want you to love me."

Sasuke held her tight, stroking her hair as she cried into his shirt.

"I already love you," he said. "But the problem is, will you love me back?"

She sniffed. "I'm going to try."

He lifted up her chin and wiped away the tears from her pink eyelashes. "Let me kiss you."

She closed her eyes and waited for his mouth to meet hers.

And when it did, she felt the hard, metal chains on her heart begin to slowly break,

One by one.

* * *

**OOC SASUKE FTW**

**I hate SaiIno btw but as much as I love SaiSaku I HAVE TO BASH THEM**


	26. Electricity

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o26: There had always been electricity between them. Unfortunately, the first time they _really _felt it was when Sakura gave him a static shock while touching his hair.

* * *

**.o26.  
**_Electricity_

There was always a hint of electricity between them. Whenever they locked eyes for the briefest second, or exchanged an occasional small chat, there was a little glimpse of a spark that burned brightly between the two.

Unfortunately, the first _real _spark they had was when Sakura touched his hair, sending static shocks all throughout his body.

"Oh my goodness," Sakura cried. "I am _so _sorry. I didn't mean—I was walking along the carpet, and I didn't think—are you alright?"

Sasuke was on the ground, obviously surprised by the power of the jolt. He had had Naruto ruffle his hair with a balloon before, but Sakura had caught him by surprise when her hand brushed through his locks.

_You're thinking of it, and she just _does _it_, Sasuke thought to himself. He pulled himself up and brushed his pants.

"I'm fine. Just…let me know next time, alright?" he said.

He saw how embarrassed and worried Sakura looked and gave her a reassuring smirk. "It's fine. Really. Just give me a heads up.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Okay. Well, um, Sasuke-kun. I really like your hair. So, uh, may I touch it?"

"Sure." He bent down a little bit so that it was easier for her to touch his head rather than have her stand on her tippie-toes, and Sasuke almost moaned when Sakura brushed her fingers through his scalp, but he bit his lip and held it in.

"Thanks," Sakura said, blushing. "Sorry if that was a little bit awkward. It's just that…wow, your hair is so unique."

He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "As is yours."

She blushed even more, and Sasuke just wanted to take her into his arms and spin her around.

"See you later, Sakura," he said, taking his things and walking off.

_He imagined her naked body pressed against him, her fingers clutching his hair as she cried out his name…_

.

.

.

Sakura saw him again at the coffee shop, and immediately, that burst of lightning sprung through her. She walked over to Sasuke, who was reading a book and covered his eyes with her hands.

"Peekaboo!" she said.

He smirked, removing her hands. "Hey, Sakura." He motioned to the empty seat across from him. "Take a seat?"

"Sure."

She looked over to see what he was reading and smiled. "I never pegged you as one for love stories."

"It's a classic. Well-written." He set the book down. "What have you been up to?"

Sakura quickly glanced around the shop and noticed that there was barely anybody there.

"Um, if it's okay," she whispered. "Can you come over here?"

Sasuke did as he was told.

"Can I, um," she whispered softly. "Can I play with your hair?"

Sasuke looked around to see if there was anybody he knew there and murmured back, "Just be subtle about it."

Her face lightened up, and she began to braid intricate designs onto Sasuke's hair. Unfortunately, she had no rubber band or anything to tie them into place, but she was happy just having her hands in her crush's hair, playing with it.

"It's really soft," she said. "You must take good care of it."

He scoffed. "I was born with soft hair."

"Maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline."

Sasuke chuckled and felt his hair. "Wow," he said. "That's a really nice braid."

Sakura laughed. "You should get dreadlocks or something. Or maybe cornrows."

Smirking, Sasuke replied, "I know you'd like that."

"Well, perhaps you know me all too well."

They sat there looking at each other in silence, and Sakura wanted to lean forward and kiss him. However, Sasuke looked at his watch, ran his fingers through his braided hair, and said, "I've got to go." He took his coffee and his book and nodded at Sakura. "See you soon."

"Bye," she said weakly. She sat back down in her chair and slumped, sighing. Kami, how she liked him…

.

.

.

Sasuke this time had asked Sakura to play with his hair while he was studying, since it apparently soothed him, but Sakura didn't quite understand that.

Every time she touched him she felt electricity shoot up through her and wanted more of him. She just wondered if he felt the same way.

"Right there," Sasuke said. "That feels great."

"Um," Sakura said, removing her fingers from his scalp. "Can I ask you something?"

Sasuke put down his books. "Sure."

"Do you ever…and answer me honestly. Do you like when I play with your hair or are you just used to it?"

"It feels good," he said.

Sakura laughed nervously. "That doesn't really answer my question."

"Well," he said, facing her. "I like it because it's _you _doing it. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't let them within ten feet of me. But I trust you."

"Um, can I ask you something else?"

"…Of course."

Sakura fiddled with her fingers. "Do you ever feel like, a jolt or a spark or something whenever I touch you? Like, that little bit of electricity?"

_Dear Kami, how he felt it_.

"…Yes," he answered warily. "Well, do _you_?"

Sakura blushed. "Um."

"If I kiss you now, will you feel electricity run through your body?"

"What do you—"

His mouth was on hers hungrily, licking the outside of her lips with his tongue and kissing her with a passion she'd never felt before. Her arms were around his neck, and he pulled her closer to him. The electricity ran through each of them, making their desires burn brighter, and Sakura clenched fistfuls of Sasuke's naturally soft hair in her hands.

"Oh my goodness," Sakura breathed. "I felt—I felt it."

"I did, too," he said. "And I want to make you feel electric everywhere. From here," he said, tracing her mouth. "To here," he repeated, his head resting in between her breasts. "And especially _here_," he added, his fingers trailing down to the top of her skirt, resting dangerously near her womanhood. But he removed his hand. "Only when you're ready."

She kissed him again. "I've always been ready for you," she said. "Make me feel that spark."

* * *

**I read some fic a long time ago where Sakura asks Sasuke, "Can I touch your hair?" and he says, "Go for it."**

**If anyone could find it I would be the happiest person online.**


	27. Diary, Journal

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o27: Naruto steals Sakura's diary to make her fall in love with him. Unfortunately, things don't go out as planned.

* * *

**.o27.  
**_Diary/Journal_

Naruto snickered as he took the bright pink book out of Sakura's locker and hid into an empty room, reading it carefully.

_"Dear Diary_," he said out loud, giggling like a schoolgirl. "_Sasuke-kun is _so _hot. I've always wondered what it would be like for him to kiss me like they do in the movies—"_

Naruto sighed. "Ugh. More about Sakura's love for Sasuke. Is there anything good about me?"

He rolled through the pages, trying to find some scribble of his name somewhere.

_"Naruto got in my way again! It's like he's trying to cockblock Sasuke-kun from me, and that's totally not cool. He's a nice guy and all, but doesn't he understand I want to try and seduce Sasuke?"_

"So now _I'm _the bad guy," Naruto muttered. He continued reading, as much as it pained him to do so.

_"I had the craziest wet dream last night where Sasuke put his –beep- in my –beep- and he kissed and licked my –beep- until I –beep—"_

Naruto, obviously disturbed by how dirty Sakura was when it came to her sexual fantasies, closed the diary. He stuffed it into his backpack and decided to take it home, where he could scrutinize it better and use it to make Sakura fall in love with him and not Sasuke.

There was work to be done.

.

.

.

"Holy shit," Sakura said, opening her locker. "It's not here."

"What's not here?" Sasuke asked, waiting for her to pick up her stuff. He wondered where Naruto was, and was surprised that he had left his "soon-to-be-girlfriend" alone with his "frenemy."

"My diary. I keep it in here. I don't understand how—"

"…Why would you keep something so important at school?" Sasuke shook his head. "If you're going to do that, it's somewhat your fault."

Sakura frowned. "You're not helping at all, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke shook his head, folding his arms and waiting for Sakura to finish freaking out.

"Okay, I'm sure I put it in here. I _swear _that I put it in here. What if—oh my goodness. _What if somebody took it and read it_?!" Sakura began to scream. "I have things in there that I don't want anybody to see, and if they do, my life is ruined! Absolutely _ruined_!"

"Calm down," Sasuke said, holding her mouth so that she couldn't draw more attention to herself.

"I can't calm down! There are so many private secrets in there that—"

"Look, I'll help you find it, alright? Relax." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Deep breath. Alright?"

Sakura did as she was told, and relaxed slightly. "Don't worry. I'll help you. Okay?"

"…Okay."

.

.

.

Naruto hadn't slept in two days on the weekend, reading Sakura's diary back and forth and occasionally pulling out the old hand-girlfriend to use for some of the steamy parts.

_"Dear Diary, if only Sasuke would look at me not just as a friend, but as a girl, I would be _so _happy."_

"I look at you like that," Naruto mumbled.

_"If he came up to me with a bouquet of roses in the middle of class shirtless I would probably die. I'm getting horny just thinking about it. I would love him so hard that I'd probably be kicked out."_

Naruto thought to himself. "Well, she has class with Sasuke at eleven, so if I came in, I could probably make it in time—"

_"Dear Diary. Today I saw a rooster at the local farm. Its butt reminded me of Sasuke. A rooster's nickname of 'cock' also reminded me of Sasuke. It made me giggle."_

Naruto slammed the book shut. It was enough for a night.

.

.

.

"I haven't seen Naruto all weekend," Sakura said. "Have you?" she asked Sasuke as they settled down for their eleven o'clock class.

"No. He's not answering his phone."

"Class is beginning, everyone. Please take a seat," the teacher said. She began the lecture by drawing out words on the blackboard, and Sakura took down notes fervently. Sasuke could see that she was still shaken up about losing her diary, and he had done his best to comfort her in the best way he could.

"Delivery for Haruno Sakura," a voice called.

Everyone looked towards the back of the classroom to see—

"Holy shit," Sakura began, dropping her pencil.

—a half-naked Naruto holding a bouquet of roses.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"It was _you_?" Sakura said. "You took my diary?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Is this the part where you forgive me and then fall in love with me?"

He was unprepared for a punch to the face. "You bastard! How much of it did you read? I can't believe it! I feel like there's been a _huge _breach of my privacy. Give it back. Where is it?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "Uh, here. Don't mind the highlighted parts. I was…taking notes."

"Sakura-san, take a seat!" the teacher said. Sakura ignored her.

"I am so angry at you right now, I can't even—"

"Sakura."

Sasuke put his hands on her shoulders to draw her back from attacking Naruto. "Stop. You found it, alright? So he read it. It's not like he's going to broadcast it out for everyone."

"Yeah! I mean, I'm not going to tell everyone about the time you wished that Sasuke would—"

Sakura silenced him with another punch and took her things. "I'm going to go. Sorry, sensei."

She ran out of the room, embarrassed beyond words and clutching her journal. "Unbelievable," she said. Sakura felt _violated_.

Sasuke followed after her.

.

.

.

"What's so embarrassing in there that you had to attack Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing," Sakura muttered, putting the diary in her bag. She obviously wasn't going to bring it to school anymore.

"Tell me," Sasuke said.

"It's none of your business! If you want to know so badly, ask Naruto." She felt tears come to her eyes but refused to let them fall.

Sasuke paused. "Is it about me?"

Sakura froze. "No! Of course not! You've got to be really self-centered if you think I wrote about you—"

"Don't lie to me. I _know _how you feel about me."

Holy shit.

"You do?" she said softly.

"Sakura, we're friends. We're together every day. You'd think that at some point, I'd start to notice."

Sakura put her face in her hands. "Oh my goodness. I'm so embarrassed. Then you know that I want to do things to you, like—"

She explained several naughty things in detail, and Sasuke turned slightly red.

"…Well, no, not that detailed, but I knew that you liked me."

Sakura wailed out in embarrassment. "I can't believe I just said that!"

"Calm down." He put an arm around Sakura. "If it makes you feel better, I don't mind. At all."

"What are you saying?" Sakura asked.

He smirked.

"We're friends. You can figure it out. Now, I've got to get back to class. Don't come back with me. I don't think sensei will want to see you right now."

He left her there, wondering what on earth he meant.

"We're…friends?"

It struck her.

"Oh!" She immediately searched for a pencil or pen and began to scribble furiously in her diary.

_"Dear Diary," _she began. _"I think he likes me back."_

* * *

**CLICHES FTW**


	28. At the Movies

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o28: Bringing Naruto to the movies with his date didn't end as well as it should have...

* * *

**.o28.  
**_At the Movies_

All Sasuke ever wanted was a peaceful movie theatre date with his girlfriend. He didn't include Naruto in the picture, and the date ended up being a friend's night out, which he already had enough of.

"Naruto," Sasuke growled. "It's just me and Sakura today."

"Well," Naruto said. "The more, the merrier!"

Sakura frowned and whispered into Sasuke's ear. "You're not getting any tonight unless you make him leave."

That, obviously, was incentive enough for Sasuke to push Naruto away.

"Dobe, you have to go. If you do, I'll buy you a week's worth of ramen."

"No deal. Remember the last time you 'bought me a week's worth of ramen?'"

Sasuke did remember. He hadn't bought it. He just threw the idea out there and for some reason, Naruto managed to remember that.

"Just let him come," Sakura sighed, pulling down her jean shorts over her thighs. "What harm can he do?"

"I don't want him here," Sasuke muttered. He put his hand on her rib cage. "And I want _you _tonight."

"You will, as long as you manage to control him," Sakura said. "Just bring him."

Sasuke sighed. "Alright. Naruto, do you want to come see a funny movie with us?"

"Are there tits?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head, sighing.

"Just get your ass over here."

.

.

.

Already Sasuke knew that it was a bad idea inviting Naruto. He had hogged up the snack line by buying several buckets of popcorn, soda, and candy, then dropping it all and asking for another one, making the three twenty minutes late to the movie.

"Just go on without me," Naruto said, stuffing his mouth under the butter machine. "I'll be there in a second."

Sasuke sighed, taking Sakura's hand and walking into the dark theatre. "Let's sit in the back," he said. "So we can see clearer, and also because…" his fingers dipped into the waistband of her shorts.

She giggled. "I like that."

They sat near the end of the theatre, watching the movie with the rest of the moviegoers and laughing at several parts. Then, suddenly, a loud noise interrupted the showing.

"TEME! SAKURA-CHAN! Where are you? I got popcorn and soda and lots of candy—wait, where are you guys?"

Several people mumbled in protest against the loudmouth, and Sasuke groaned. "Oh, no."

"Ah! There you guys are! What're you doing back there?" He took a seat next to Sasuke and put down his food on the ground. "Enjoying the view! Got it. Let's watch."

By the time everyone managed to forget about the disruption, Sasuke continued acting as if nothing were wrong, his arm around Sakura while her head was on his shoulder.

"Hey, teme," Naruto whispered loudly, poking Sasuke. "Who's this guy? What's his name?"

"Napoleon," Sasuke muttered back quietly, ignoring the _shh_! of the other moviegoers.

"Yeah, but what's his purpose? He's such a nerd!"

"Shut up and watch the movie," Sasuke said. Sakura sighed heavily, stroking Sasuke's chest while she watched.

Ten minutes in, everything was fine until Naruto began to chew his popcorn loudly and struggle to open his candy, causing everyone to groan in protest again.

"Sorry, folks," he said. "I'll be quick. Aw, damnit. My candy fell. If I could just use my phone light to find it—hey, it's a call from Shikamaru!"

"We're easily the most hated people in the theatre right now," Sakura said.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That's an understatement."

After everything had been settled: Naruto getting his candy, turning off his phone, and sitting right back down, things were okay.

Halfway through the movie, Naruto whispered, "There are no tits in this movie, you liar!"

"Shut up."

"But I've got nothing to whack off to!"

Sasuke silenced Naruto with a hit and decided it was time to pull the moves off for Sakura. He took his arm away from her and slowly used his hand to trail his fingers up her thighs.

His fingers felt scratchy over her skin and he wondered how long ago it had been since she last shaved.

Sasuke's hand went up higher until it reached the hem of her shorts, and he stroked her inner thigh sweetly. However, the moan that came out of her mouth wasn't feminine. It was deeper. More masculine.

And then he realized that Sakura was on _his right side_, which meant Naruto was on…

"Kami."

Sasuke quickly drew away his hand, cursing loudly as Naruto frowned.

"Hey, it felt good! You don't have to be embarrassed. We're all friends here."

Sasuke grabbed Sakura and led her out. "We're leaving," he said.

"Why? It just got to the good part!"

"No. We've got to go." He dragged her out of the theatre and into the car, where he started it up as quickly as he could.

"You look disturbed," Sakura said. "What just happened?"

"_I don't want to talk about it_." He shuddered.

"Well, I'm here. So you're going to talk."

Sasuke gripped the steering wheel. "I fondled Naruto thinking it was you."

Sakura's face turned into one of shock and disgust.

"Holy shit—_why_?"

"I told you," Sasuke said. "I thought it was you."

"That's disgusting. Bleh. I'm so disturbed right now."

"Hey, how do you think I feel?"

Sakura leaned over and kissed him. "It's okay, though," she said. "I can give you a proper cleansing. Now, if you can just pull over right there, and meet me in the backseat, everything will be okay. Just please make sure you use that hand sanitizer before you stick your fingers in any part of my body."

That was a good enough deal. Sasuke pulled over as Sakura unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed into the back, waiting for Sasuke.

"We're never going to the movies again," Sasuke muttered as he positioned himself comfortably on top of her. "We'll just watch Netflix at home."

"Or not invite Naruto," she added as she helped him take off his shirt.

He kissed her. "Can't risk it. Now come here." His hands grabbed her soft thighs and he thanked Kami it was the right pair. "Hold onto me tight, because I'm going to ride you so hard."

"Then do it." Her hands dug into his forearms. "And hurry it up, because I'm sure that Naruto's going to come any second now once the movie's done."

"Don't talk about him or any sort of movie," he said, kissing her. "Right now, it's just you and me." He thrust into her, replaying her sweet cries of pleasure. He bent down to kiss her jaw.

_"_You and me."

* * *

**I hate cheesy endings but GUYS IM ALMOST CAUGHT UP WOOT. I'M PUMPING THESE THINGS OUT LIKE CRAZY**

**I kind of wanted to go the "dick in a box route" but thought against it =/**


	29. Souvenirs

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o29: Sakura begins to doubt whether Sasuke really cares for her or not since he puts work before the family...

* * *

**.o29.  
**_Souvenirs_

"I can't," Sasuke said, pushing the hordes of beautiful, seductive women away from him. "I've got a wife at home whom I love very much."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," they cooed, gripping his tie and loosening it. "After all, you're probably tired of committing to one woman. Why don't you try something else for a change, hm?" they said, squeezing their breasts to make their cleavage pop out.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said angrily. He had to get home on the flight back, but with these horny women holding onto him, he couldn't possibly break free.

Sasuke felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and picked it up.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Sasuke-kun?" he heard on the other line. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Sakura. I'm getting back in a couple hours. Please be patient. Don't stay up too late waiting for me."

"Who's that?" one of the women purred. "Your _wife_?"

"…Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked warily. "Who's that?"

"It's nobody," he said quickly. He cursed at the girl. "I'll be back soon. I love you." Quickly, he hung up, leaving Sakura to wonder what he was _really _doing and if he would actually be back soon.

"He doesn't care about me at all," she sighed. "All he cares about are those stupid business trips. He's probably flirting with tons of other women, thinking that I know nothing about his affairs." Sakura buried her face in her arms.

Sasuke didn't come home that night.

.

.

.

He tried calling her again, but she didn't pick up. Sasuke stopped at the airport shop to buy another souvenir for her, knowing exactly what she liked, and hoped that she would accept his lame apology with a materialistic gift.

Every time he went on business trips, he always managed to bring her back a souvenir, not only to show where he went but also to prove that she never left his mind.

And when his plane finally reached Konoha and he called the taxi to pick him up and drop him off, he expected Sakura's warm welcome with a hug and a kiss. Instead, he opened the door to see her lying on the couch, reading a magazine and sighing heavily.

"Oh," she said. "You're back."

There was no eager jumping off the couch and into his arms. There was only the tired frown and the look that told him that she didn't trust him much anymore, especially after last night's call.

"Sakura," he said, putting down his briefcase and his bag. "You look exhausted."

"I stayed up all night waiting for you," she growled. "Were you with one of your extramarital affairs?"

"What? No!" he said, angry that she would even think that he would cheat on her. "Those women last night. I can explain. They were coming on to me, but I told them that I had a beautiful wife at home, and—"

"I don't want to hear any more bullshit. I've had a long day."

"Sakura, baby, don't do this to me," he said. "I love you."

"You're just telling me what I want to hear," she said, her voice cracking. "Please, just leave me alone."

He heard her walk upstairs and slam the door, and he immediately cursed himself. She was a good wife: she waited at home for him every day and gave him all her love and a good life, and what he gave her in return was a husband who was always on trips and someone whom she thought cheated on her daily.

"Sakura," he said, walking upstairs with the bag. He had some explaining to do.

"Don't come in," she said. "I don't want to talk to you."

"I'm coming in anyway. I need to explain myself."

"I've heard everything," she mumbled. He knew that she was crying in the pillow, and he immediately felt bad.

"I'm going to break down this door."

She gave what sounded like a laugh. "No, you won't."

He kicked it down in one swift kick, and she was obviously surprised by his rashness.

"Yes, I will." He sat down next to her and she turned away from him.

"I don't want to see you."

"Sakura." He stroked her hair and felt her tense under him. "I know that I've been a very busy man, and I haven't had enough time to pay attention to my wife."

"That's an understatement," she said.

"Yes. Well, even though it seems like I put my work in front of you, I want to give you this." He handed her the nicely wrapped gift and she looked at it with awe.

"It's _beautiful_—where did you—?"

"It was a souvenir. Don't you see? I always bring you back something. Do you know why I do?"

She immediately frowned again and handed the gift back. "It's an apology gift. The 'sorry for cheating on you behind your back, hope some materialistic object can make it better again.'"

"No," he said. "I don't cheat on you. I have _never _cheated on you, and never will. But can't you see? Even when I'm working, even when I'm on the trips and away, all I can think of is you. I'm always thinking of you, even if it seems like I put work first."

Sakura took the gift back into her hands. "Do you really mean that?"

"I do."

He expected a kiss, but got a slap on the cheek instead.

"What the hell?" he asked.

"You're an idiot." She hugged him, tears falling down onto his suit. "But I love you for it."

He held her close.

"I love you, too."

"Just promise me you'll call more often? It gets really lonely without you here," she said.

"I'll call. I'll text. I'll Skype. I'll do everything that you want. I just want you to know that I'm always there."

She smiled. "Welcome home."

* * *

**I can't end things for crap man.**

**BUT I AM ALL CAUGHT UP GUYS**


	30. Losing Hope

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o30: Sakura's losing hope in her relationship. Sasuke's not ready to give it up just yet.

* * *

**.o30.  
**_Losing Hope_

It was a horrible thing to think about. Sakura was still hopelessly in love with Sasuke, but she wasn't sure if he felt the same way. They had lost the spark that once fueled their love and passion, and what were once pleasant date nights ending in something a little more physically intimate than a kiss were now simply holding hands.

Of course, they still texted and called and saw each other frequently. But when Sakura looked into Sasuke's eyes, they were no longer full of visible sweetness and care.

Sakura decided she needed to do something about this. After endless, empty nights of tears without Sasuke holding her in his arms, she figured that maybe it was better if they weren't together anymore. After all, it already seemed to her as if he had moved on. Maybe she should do the same.

She dialed the number that was so familiar to her and waited for him to pick up. Sakura held her breath as the phone rang once, twice, and then was interrupted by Sasuke's deep _Hello_?

Sakura gulped.

"Um. Hi, Sasuke-kun."

Silence.

"Sakura," he responded. "How are you?"

The way he was talking to her made it seem as if they hadn't talked in forever. Which they hadn't, and that made her even more upset. She did her best to hide her tears and her shaky voice and said, "Is it okay if we meet up? I'd like to talk to you about some things, if that's alright."

She thought that Sasuke had hung up on her, but just as she was checking to see if had left, he said, "Sure. Why don't you come over."

Sakura said her goodbyes and hung up. She held herself tight, finally allowing a few tears to fall, and prepared herself for what she was going to say.

"Be strong, Sakura," she muttered to herself. "You can do this."

She reached for her coat and a warm, familiar scarf until she stopped herself.

Sasuke gave her that scarf.

_I've handled enough coldness from one person_, she thought. _A little cold weather won't do me much harm._

.

.

.

Sasuke knew that he hadn't been treating Sakura with as much attention as he should have. In fact, although it was partly his fault that he wasn't introducing as much into the relationship as before, it was also Sakura's problem because she was just waiting for him to do it.

However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Sakura's familiar knocking on the door. It was the same knock she used all the time: one long, two short. A pause if she didn't hear footsteps coming. And then one short, two longs.

Sasuke walked over to the door, maintaining himself. He stood up straight and opened the door slowly, watching as Sakura shivered in her thin coat _without his scarf_.

"Sakura," he said. "You're freezing." He touched her cheeks and immediately pulled back from how icy she felt. "Come in."

He helped lead her in and sit down on his bed where they had spent so many sleepless, warm nights together. Now all they had were distant gazes and cold hearts.

"Let me get you a blanket," he said, pulling up one of his sheets to cover her with. "Or some hot water. Wait here."

"No," she said firmly, touching his hand. "Let's talk."

Sasuke saw how serious she was and stayed put. "What's been on your mind?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but she began to cry instead. She took her hand away from Sasuke's and wiped her tears away.

"Please don't look at me right now," she said. "I've got to calm myself."

"You don't have to be embarrassed," he said, putting a comforting arm around her and stroking her back gently. "We've been through tough times."

"Like now?" Sakura said.

Sasuke paused. He stopped rubbing her back.

"Is this what you wanted to talk about?"

"I want to break up," Sakura said so suddenly that Sasuke was unsure if he had heard her right.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't think it's working out between us. What we had before was great, and I'll always treasure those memories, but—"

Sakura couldn't finish speaking, even if she wanted to, because Sasuke's hot and comforting lips were on hers, warming her up from her toes to her forehead.

"You think that we've reached an impasse," he said, pulling apart just the slightest bit. "You think that just because we haven't been as physically intimate or close that we should break up."

"Yes," she said, trying to prove her point. "Because—"

She was interrupted again by his sweet kisses. "No more," he said. "Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you. Tell me what _we _can do to fix this. Honey, it just can't be me doing all the work. You've got to help me too."

Sakura breathed out her words in fear that she would break apart if she said anything louder than a whisper.

"I'm starting to lose hope in our relationship."

He took her cold hands in his warm ones and she felt his heat spread through her. Her body immediately became warm under his touch, and she shuddered, remembering what it was like when his naked body pressed against hers in a passionate embrace.

"Our relationship was never lost to begin with," he said, squeezing her fingers once. He leaned in to kiss her, and he saw that she leaned in just the slightest bit.

"You're just not believing hard enough."

* * *

**EFFING BREAKUP MAKEUP CLICHES ARE LIKE MY NEW FAVORITE THING**

**Also OOC Sasuke too**

**SORRY GUYS I'M JUST FOCUSING ON QUANTITY NOT QUALITY**

**I CANT BELIEVE SSM IS ENDING TOMORROW**


	31. Unexpected Wealth

**title: **Stories of Us  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH 2013  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o31: He was a poor boy when he met Sakura, and although they still don't live the comfortable life, he's rich because of her.

* * *

**.o31.  
**_Unexpected Wealth_

He hated seeing his fiancée panic over the smallest things.

"We don't have enough money to pay the bill this month," she cried out, looking over at the taunting papers in frustration. "In fact, we're in debt from _last _month, and we just can't keep borrowing money from the bank or our friends—"

Sasuke put a firm hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

"You keep telling me that," she said. "But it's impossible _not _to worry about it." Sakura motioned towards all the stray papers that were on the flimsy wooden table. "I keep thinking about what the next day will be like. Will we have enough food? Enough money? Will we even have the _house_?"

Sasuke drew her into his arms and held her tightly to him. "I'll find a way, I promise. We can get through this together. I'm working three jobs at once, and I know you're working hard as well on your medical studies, but we can do it."

He felt Sakura loosen up in his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her left ring finger was still empty, and Sasuke promised that once he had enough money, he would buy her the biggest, most beautiful diamond ring the world had ever seen.

"Why do I love you so much?" she sighed.

He ran a hand through her long, pink hair and brought it to his lips. "How did a poor boy like me ever become so rich?"

He saw her giggle and he smirked.

"I knew that'd get a laugh out of you. Come on." He led her away from the table of bills and brought her to their room. Sasuke sat Sakura down on the bed and walked over to the closet, pulling out a dusty old guitar that hadn't been used since he met her in the subway.

"Lucky guitar," he said, blowing off the dust and trying to find a pick. "Used this to get tips so that I could eat something."

Sakura smiled. "I gave you a twenty."

He began to tune the guitar. "You gave me more than that," he said, and she understood that he didn't mean moneywise.

"Sing me that song you were singing the day we met," she said, leaning towards him to watch him better.

"Kami," he muttered. "It's been so long ago. Let's see." He began to strum the chords, feeling his calloused fingers remember the strings that were once so friendly to him. "Ah, this is it." His wrist moved up and down as his head swayed with the music, and Sakura smiled, watching him sing to her.

_"Where have you been all my life?"_ he began. _"And what had I done before you came?"_

Sakura closed her eyes, remembering how she was in a hurry to meet somebody but was caught up by that deep, mellow voice of Sasuke's. And she stopped to listen.

_"You've made me rich, girl, with all your love," _he continued. _"And honestly, that's all I really need."_

Sasuke finished singing the last parts of the song and ended it with a clear strum. He chuckled. "It sounds nothing like it did a long time ago."

Before he knew it, Sakura's arms were around his neck and she kissed him fully, her fingers clawing at his neck and fisting locks of his hair.

"Aa," he moaned softly as he opened his mouth to let her tongue in. "Sakura, you're driving me crazy."

"I want you," she said breathlessly, her eyes full of lust. "Kami, I'm so in love with you."

Sasuke pushed her so that her back was on the mattress and he was on top of her, locking his fingers with hers. "If you keep saying things like that," he warned playfully. "I don't know what I'll do with you."

"Do anything you'd like with me," she said, reaching up to kiss his nose. "I don't mind."

.

.

.

Although it was pure blackness outside, the couple refused to turn on any lights so as to save the electric bill. Sakura held Sasuke to her breasts and he wrapped his arm around her, feeling the steady thump of her heart beat.

"We'll make it through," he said, comforting her as if he knew what she was thinking. "Don't you worry about anything."

Sakura brought his head back up to hers and she stroked his cheek. "I trust you. It's just that sometimes, when problems like that are in front of your face, it's hard to ignore them."

Sasuke propped himself up on his forearm and looked at his soon-to-be wife with the smallest amount of moonlight given to him. "You are so beautiful," he said. "And I'm sorry I can't give you the life you want."

"I'm comfortable enough," she said, running her hands through his sweaty hair.

"You know, I was never rich to begin with," he said. He felt her fingers stop and pull away from him. Nevertheless, he continued.

"But I've become unexpectedly wealthy almost overnight. And," he said, pinching her nose while smirking. She hmphed, and he pressed his lips against her forehead, breathing softly, no trace of playful humor left in him.

"It's all because of you."

* * *

**I'M JUST A POOR BOY, NOBODY LOVES ME.**

**No but in all seriousness, I just want to take this time to write a really length, long, sappy author's note. First of all, this SSM and all the previous SSM and fics are dedicated to one of my best friends on FF and the world, reviee. Without her, I never would have seen such awesome SS things and had somebody to talk to for five years. So Rhyrhy, this is for you, and everything is too. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. You're great. I hope to have five million more years with you (heart)**

**And thank you all for faving, reviewing, liking, etc. on here and Tumblr. Your feedback really means a lot.**

**If you could, could you guys go to my profile page and answer a poll I have? That would be super wonderful.**

**Thank you so much for reading this year's SSM 2013. I hope you all read next year's as well. **

**Love you all.**


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